Everton in race to sign MLS top scorer Valentin Castellanos
Everton want to sign New York City striker Valentin Castellanos this summer after his golden boot-winning season in the MLS, according to Tutto Mercato.
The 23-year-old was the catalyst for NYCFC’s MLS victory in 2021 as he bagged 19 goals in 32 games for the Manchester City-affiliated franchise.
He has kept his good form going this season with seven goals in 10 MLS games as well as four in six in the North American equivalent of the Champions League.
The Toffees aren’t the only Premier League club in the hunt for the Argentinian with the filthy rich Newcastle United also named by the Italian media as well as Serie A club Bologna.
River Plate are also keen to bring him back to his homeland but they have had an £11.8million bid rejected by New York City so far this summer.
Caution
We’ve seen time and time again players come from leagues such as the Eredivisie in the Netherlands to the Premier League and struggle such is the unrivalled quality in the division.
We can all agree that the Dutch football pyramid is far superior to that of the United States so Castellanos would have to be an extremely special talent to be a success in England straight away.
We know first-hand how difficult the transition to English football can be for the best of American talent having witnessed Landon Donovan fail to light up the league back in his heyday.
As good as he is doing in the MLS, he would have to show the same kind of form either in Europe or for River Plate before he could be a viable option to sign for us.
Frank Lampard can’t afford to be suckered into a transfer row with other clubs over players who wouldn’t improve the side he already has.
In other Everton news, a new local affiliation could be set up between the Toffees and one of the area’s Football League sides.
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