Mexico's Nery Castillo set the international stage alight this summer with a series of fantastic performances at both the Gold Cup and Copa America, but the 23-year-old's club career has been spent in "relative obscurity" at clubs like Olympiakos in Greece and now, Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine. Having only just signed with the Ukrainian giant this summer -- and having played just eight games -- Castillo has now been loaned out to a decidedly higher profile club: Manchester City of the English Premier League. His price tag was a reported $7.2 million for one year.
This is a good thing for Mexican fans, says SI.com's Luis Bueno, because City's matches regularly appear on television, while few outside of Ukraine ever get to see Shakhtar play domestic matches. Castillo will certainly add some attacking flair to City's forward line, which, aside from the elegant Elano, is short on creative attacking players.
"Instantly, Castillo vaults to the top of a list that includes Georgios Samaras and Rolando Bianchi," says Bueno, adding that "immediately he should force his way into the starting lineup alongside Valeri Bojinov." Bueno says they could make the perfect match, as Bojinov's power is matched by Castillo's skill. The Mexican certainly gives City manager Sven Goran Eriksson more options up front, but the Swede must now find the right combination.
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