West Ham United could be handed a fresh opportunity to sign Taty Castellanos in January, with reports from Italy suggesting Lazio are now willing to sell the Argentine striker to fund new arrivals.
The 27-year-old forward, who has bagged two goals and three assists in his opening six Serie A appearances this term, is reportedly up for grabs as Lazio prepare to lift their transfer ban. Lazio are said to be asking for €30 million for Castellanos — a figure they hope will cover incoming reinforcements requested by manager Maurizio Sarri.
Taty Castellanos is in excellent goalscoring form
West Ham are joined by a familiar gaggle of Premier League clubs showing interest, including Everton, Nottingham Forest, Burnley, and Wolves, with Spanish sides Villarreal and Real Betis also tracking the player.
Claret & Hugh understands that Castellanos had previously been scouted by West Ham’s recruitment team, though it’s unclear whether that was instigated by Kyle Macaulay or Max Hahn’s.
Interestingly, Castellanos wasn’t thrilled when Sarri returned to the Stadio Olimpico, having spent much of last season on the bench behind Ciro Immobile. But this campaign, the striker has started all but one game — the Derby defeat to Roma — and has grown in importance.
We need to get shot of Paqueta, he has been woeful and the longer we keep him the lower his resale value. If we could get £40m for him then maybe we can start to think about other players but getting shot of dead wood should be the priority and we should be hawking players around now that we can an sell on the first day of the window. As for average players we should be starting well clear.