West Ham striker Taty Castellanos does not have a clause in his contract allowing him to leave the club cheaply in the event of relegation.
That is the latest from a source close to West Ham who spoke exclusively to Claret & Hugh this morning to clear up growing uncertainty following reports which emerged yesterday.
Stories circulating on social media suggested Castellanos had no intention of playing Championship football should the Hammers go down.
However, those same claims also suggested the Argentine forward could be available for a bargain fee.
So when Claret & Hugh spoke to an agent close to both the club and the player to ask whether there was any truth behind suggestions he could leave cheaply, the response was immediate.
West Ham Source Denies Clause Exists
“No, I don’t know where that has come from. There is no clause.”
That was the unequivocal response given to Claret & Hugh this morning.
Like others within the West Ham squad, Castellanos would reportedly be subject to a 50% wage reduction should the club drop into the Championship next season.
But it was made absolutely clear to us there is no release clause allowing the striker to be signed on the cheap.
“`html id=”castellanosstats01″
| Player | Taty Castellanos |
| Competition | Premier League |
| Games | 17 |
| Goals | 5 |
“`
Castellanos Has Shown Promise Since January Move
The 27-year-old joined West Ham from Lazio for around £27m in January.
Since arriving in East London, Castellanos has scored five goals in 17 Premier League appearances.
I was just under the assumption the “bargain” and “cheap” claims were simply meaning he would likely be available in the £15-20m range if we go down and weren’t being said in the sense of he has a release clause in his contract.
Realistically, we’d likely need to sell him for around £10m under what we paid for him so if he’s sold within half a year with around a third of his transfer fee knocked off then, yeah- I’d say that would count as a bargain fee if anyone signed him there.
We need to keep Taty, I wouldn’t be suprised if he turned out to be a 20+ goals a season striker in the championship due to his superb work rate & tenacity.