River Plate have backed out of the race to sign £10 million Leeds United and West Ham target Valentin Castellanos, manager Marcelo Gallardo tells Doble Amarilla.
Last season, Julian Alvarez and Jorge Carrascal contributed a combined 21 goals and ten assists as River Plate secured their first national title since 2014.
With Alvarez snapped up by Manchester City, and with Carrascal joining CSKA Moscow, the much-admired Gallardo now faces one of the biggest challenges of his coaching career.
Can he realistically hope to keep River at the top of the tree without both of his most influential attackers?
Gallardo’s task has just become that little bit harder, too. The Argentine’s number one transfer target is slipping through his fingers.
“The idea was to incorporate Castellanos after Jorge Carrascal went to Russia,” explains Gallardo, who was linked with taking over at Everton and Arsenal in late-2019.
“We were excited about bringing him in from the United States. But it was not easy. Although the player was willing to come, it got complicated.
“If I see that there is not a player (on the market) who changes the equation for us, we are fine as we are. We are not going to rush out and do crazy things to sign someone.”
Is Valentin Castellanos heading to the Premier League?
Castellanos fired New York City FC to MLS Cup glory in 2021. He scored 23 goals, secured the Golden Boot and earned comparisons with none other than Didier Drogba along the way.
He’s got an admirer in the shape of Pep Guardiola too.
Guardiola has made no secret of his admiration for Castellanos, as the free-scoring striker maintains his rapid rise at Man City’s cross-Atlantic cousins.
The Argentina U23 international, Guardiola believes, is ready to make his mark on European soil. And he may be given the chance to do just that come the summer.
West Ham and Everton are reportedly interested (The Sun).
According to La Pagina, Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United are willing to stump up £10 million. They reportedly want a forward capable of easing the burden on the injury-hit Patrick Bamford.
New York City will demand closer to £14 million however.
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