Taty Castellanos Leaves New York On Loan To Fellow City Football Group Side Girona

Taty Castellanos played his final game as a New York City FC player on Saturday against Inter Miami, with the club having agreed to loan the player to Spanish side Girona until June 2023.

The move was made official on Monday, and the Argentine leaves the club while at the top of Major League Soccer’s scoring charts alongside Austin FC’s Sebastián Driussi with the 2022 season ongoing.

It brings to an end a transfer saga that has been brewing since the start of the year and became more prominent once the transfer windows in Europe and MLS opened this month.

After helping NYCFC to the MLS Cup last season, winning the Golden Boot in the process, the 23-year-old striker cemented his place in club folklore and is now a reference point for success for the fans and any new players joining the club.

He’s not as big a name as previous high-profile NYC players such as David Villa, Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirlo, but he defines the club more than these celebrity names due to his work ethic, professionalism, success, and demeanour on and off the pitch when representing the club.

This is part of the reason he was so in demand during the 2022 summer transfer window, but some of the clubs contending for his signature weren’t totally convinced that a player can successfully transition from MLS to a top European league.

Numerous teams were interested in Castellanos, who moved to New York in 2018, but none raised their bid to NYCFC’s asking price of around $15 million.

In the end, Castellanos will remain in the City Football Group system by joining Girona, the Catalan club who will play in La Liga in 2022 having been promoted from the Segunda Division via the playoffs.

In doing so he becomes an interesting case study, not just for South American players making the step from North America to a top five league in Europe, but also as a player travelling a relatively uncharted pathway within City Football Group, the company that owns numerous sides across the globe under the flagship club, Manchester City.

This transfer is more than proof that MLS can be a stepping stone to Europe for South American players. It indicates that the City Football Group clubs can also provide such a pathway.

Across the Hudson River in Harrison, New Jersey, the New York Red Bulls are part of a group of clubs that regularly promotes players through its network, though most of this takes place in Austria and Germany with FC Leifering, Red Bull Salzburg, and RB Leipzig, with numerous players ending up at Europe’s top clubs at the end of it.

City Football Group’s own network of clubs has so far been more about the sharing of resources and the copying of a blueprint on the field and off it, especially in the style of football played and the various ​​City in the Community programmes surrounding these clubs.

It also naturally extends their scouting coverage to corners of the globe where talented young players can be spotted, even if they aren’t playing for one of the City Football Group clubs.

The clubs have not yet been a common pathway for players, even though former NYC player Jack Harrison made a successful switch to the English Premier League with Leeds United having spent time at Manchester City though he never made an appearance for the current English champions.

Castellanos’ arrival at New York City from City Football Group’s Uruguayan side, Montevideo City Torque, and subsequent transfer to their club in Spain is the first time a player has gone from South America to a big European league via NYCFC and could set a precedent from which the MLS club can benefit in the future.

A loan deal means Castellanos will get a chance to increase his value as continued impressive performances in La Liga are likely to be more attractive to bigger European clubs than similar performances in MLS.

The downside is that it looks like NYCFC will get no compensation in the current season for the departure of their top scorer, and no real benefit beyond roster and salary space—as an individual club they would no doubt have much rather have kept the player than have his space free on the roster.

Many fans will believe that the move is a sideways step rather than a progression, but within the dynamics of City Football Group the move makes sense, even if it might not for NYCFC in isolation, at least not this season.

The long-term benefits are a possible increase in Castellanos’ transfer value due to playing in one of Europe’s top five leagues—especially as his NYCFC contract runs through 2025—and an obvious pathway to Europe for other young South American stars in the future.

It’s not the move to the English Premier League many predicted, but it could still have its benefits. It’s a move the player wanted to make and one the club hope will benefit them long-term.