With the lure of more European football at the London Stadium next season, plus plenty of money to play with should Declan Rice's expected £100m transfer go through, West Ham United supporters have every right to be excited for what the summer transfer window holds.
While some big names have been linked with the Hammers – Manchester United's Harry Maguire among them – others with a little less stature are also reported to be on David Moyes' radar.
Who is West Ham target Valentin Castellanos?
One of those who West Ham fans are perhaps not all that familiar with is Valentin Castellanos, often referred to as "Taty" Castellanos, who is back at parent club New York City FC after spending last season on loan with Girona in LaLiga.
According to TYC Sports reporter Cesar Luis Merlo, Girona are not in a financial position to purchase Castellanos permanently, and that has alerted the likes of West Ham and Sevilla.
That said, reports in Spain – via Sport Witness – have suggested that it is Benfica who leads the race for his signature, with the Irons now needing a last-ditch bid to get a move over the line.
It is claimed that an offer of around £13m will be enough to land the 24-year-old, who had never previously played in European football prior to last season.
Should West Ham move for Castellanos?
Castellanos made headlines in April when scoring all four goals for Girona in their 4-2 win against Real Madrid, making him the first player to score four times against Los Blancos in a LaLiga game since Oviedo's Esteban Echevarria in 1947.
Those were four of an impressive 13 goals scored by the former Argentina U23 international in the Spanish top flight last season – only seven players netted more.
Girona were very reliant on Castellanos for their top-half finish, with the striker scoring 22% of their 58 goals. To give that some context, it is a similar rate as Antoine Griezmann at Atletico Madrid (21%) and Karim Benzema at Real Madrid (25%).
Castellanos has very much proved he is capable of playing in a top European league, then, and Girona's loss could well be West Ham's gain as they seek out a player they thought Gianluca Scamacca would be when splashing out £35.5m last year.
There are obvious comparisons to be made between Castellanos and another former West Ham striker in Carlos Tevez, who also hailed from Argentina and quickly won the hearts of supporters.
Like Tevez, Castellanos is pacey and powerful, while also not afraid to get stuck in, as reflected by the 1.2 fouls committed per game in LaLiga last season. As per WhoScored, that translated to 11 yellow cards, only further highlighting his edgy side.
For comparison, Tevez was booked 24 times across 2019 Premier League appearances for West Ham, Manchester United and Manchester City, so Castellanos still has some way to go on that front.
As pointed out by former MLS reporter Chris Smith, Castellanos has a "clinical" nature to his game, which was also something Tevez prided himself on. The comparisons continue on that front, as Tevez averaged 0.37 goals per 90 minutes in the 2006-07 season at West Ham; Castellanos averaged 0.45 at Girona last season.
Tevez hit the target from 1.06 of his shots that campaign, while his compatriot did so an average of 1.11 times last season – very alike, indeed.
The early signs are certainly positive in terms of the Mendoza native's attacking game, which could hugely benefit West Ham as they look to once again compete on European and domestic fronts next season.
