More than a year after celebrating promotion to the First Division (36 days), Girona has finally made its debut in the transfer market. And not with a new face, but with three. The wait was worth it. In the middle of the afternoon the club announced thearrival of Argentine striker Valentín Taty Castellanos to then inform about it return of Brazilian defender Yan Couto that day incorporation of Barcelona midfielder David López. The first two were confirmed by coach Míchel Sánchez a few days ago, but all the fringes of the operation needed to be closed.
Around quarter past seven in the evening it was time to make the first signing official for the return to the First Division. It is about Taty Castellanos, who will be in charge of accompanying Cristhian Stuani in the attack. As explained by Girona in a statement, the 23-year-old Argentinian striker is arriving cedit pel New York Citywhich shares ownership with Girona by also being part of the City Football Group, until the end of the season. In fact, if it hadn’t been for the intervention of the City Group it would have been very difficult to get him out of the MLS.
Castellanos is the little guy in the top division of the United States. Last season he scored 23 goals in 36 games between league and Copa America, a tally that led to him winning the MLS Golden Boot in addition to being named the best player of the 2021 campaign when he celebrated the first title in the history of New York City winning the championship of the American football league. In addition, he is an international player with Argentina U23, also standing out for his goal-scoring ability with the national team. This season he has led the offense with 13 goals in 16 matches.
The Argentinian, born in Guaymallén (Mendoza), began his football career in his city’s team, Leonardo Murialdo, and then joined the youth academy of the University of Chile. With no luck at the clubs in his country, Castellanos went to try his luck at the Uruguayan Monteviedo City Torque at the age of 17. Surely, it was one of the decisions that changed his life because the club, which is also part of the City Group, transferred him to New York City in 2018 at the express request of the Colombian coach Domènec Torrent. The manager, who at the time was managing the American team, noticed it following the videos of Castellanos’ goals at the Torque and requested to be taken to Manhattan. The rest is history because the Argentinian striker made enormous progress and, for this reason, New York City bet on signing him that same year, in November 2018. With the Americans, Castellanos has scored a total of 53 goals and 19 assists in 115 appearances in the regular season between MLS and the Cup play-offs.
Castellanos has made his mark in New York City, where he has become a legend, and last weekend he had an emotional farewell in his final game where he was recognized by the fans and won the trophy to the MVP.
An hour later the next one arrived. Girona has reported the return of Yan Coutowhich also arrives on loan until the end of the season. The player of Manchester City he will live his second stage at the white-and-red club, after playing there, also on loan, in the 2020-21 season. On this occasion, however, the 20-year-old Brazilian full-back will make his debut in the First Division and that is why the citizens saw his transfer with good eyes. Last year Couto defended the shirt of the Portuguese Braga where he also left a good record playing 42 games (1 goal), nine of which were in the Europa League.
Castellanos and Couto were not the only ones. At eight in the evening, Girona announced the signing of David Lopez. The former Espanyol captain was without a team after ending his contract with the white-and-blue club on June 30 and has now reached a agreement with Girona for the next two seasons, until 2024, plus an optional one depending on the objectives as specified by Girona. The Barcelona centre-back will strengthen the axis of the defence, although he can also act as a defensive pivot or centre-half. López, with extensive experience in the First Division after having always been linked to Espanyol – he arrived there in the last year of his youth team – has played 237 official matches with the parrots in which he has scored nine 12 goals and distributed nine assists since his debut in the top category in 2010.
All three are ready to start training under Míchel (Couto and David López did it today, while Castellanos was only able to visit La Vinya because his plane arrived late) and they can make their debut in the friendly on Wednesday against Andorra in La Vinya (7pm).
