Almost exactly a year after scoring four goals in a baseball stadium against MLS side Real Salt Lake in April of 2022, Girona forward Valentin “Taty” Castellanos would do the same feat against a very different type of “royalty” in football: Real Madrid.
On loan at Girona from New York City FC, the 2021 MLS Golden Boot winner made headlines across the globe last month after his historic multi-goal performance in a spectacular 4-2 win over Madrid, making him the first player since 1947 to collect four goals in a single LaLiga game against the Spanish giants.
“One always dreams of scoring against the biggest clubs,” said an upbeat Castellanos to ESPN about his four-goal tally. “It’s a very beautiful joy that I’ve experienced.”
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That joy has undoubtedly increased in recent weeks after extending his consecutive scoring streak to four games. Proving to be no fluke and with 13 goals overall in his first season in Spain, it also seems as though it’s only a matter of time before a more prominent club takes a chance on the reported €15 million ($16.6m) valuation that NYCFC have set for his contract this summer.
As divergent as that route seems from playing in Yankee Stadium to silencing the defending Champions League holders, Castellanos’ development has come within the framework for City Football Group, the global multi-club conglomerate under Manchester City.
Brian Marwood, Managing Director of Global Football for CFG, still remembers watching early videos on Castellanos that his South American scouts had sent over about the fairly unknown player.
“His power, his pace, his technical ability,” said Marwood about the teenager that began his professional career with Universidad de Chile. “I think one thing that for me that has always stood out with him all through this journey is the energy and the desire he brings to when he plays.”
