Man city sign Neri Castillo from Olympiakos

olympiakos · Post by **olympiakos** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 6:54 pm

guess it was bound to happen after the copa america

from the mirror website

CITY'S CASTILLO SWOOP
By Alan Nixon 24/07/2007

MANCHESTER City agreed a stunning Â£10million deal with Olympiakos for Mexican striker Nery Castillo yesterday.

Boss Sven Goran Eriksson wants the exciting forward to come to his new-look side and a two-man delegation flew to Athens in a bid to push through the transfer.

Castillo would like to find a bigger club and his agents have been contacting Chelsea and Real Madrid in the past 48 hours to see if they are interested.

However City's cash - backed by new owner Thaksin Shinawatra - has made them the biggest bidders in the race and now they hope Castillo will see the sense in joining them.

Castillo could be sold the idea if he thinks it is a stepping stone to an even bigger transfer. He has always had ambitions to play for the best but none of the top clubs want him immediately.

Ironically the Mexican missed out on a move to Manchester United when he was younger because he could not get a work permit, but he has no problem with that any more and also has a Greek passport. Now City are desperate to tie up the biggest transfer of their new regime, with Castillo teed up to form a new partnership with Italian Rolando Bianchi that could banish their scoring blues.

Castillo starred in the recent Copa America and his style would suit the City fans. He is small but very skilful and could light up the City of Manchester Stadium.

Eriksson is working overtime to land his targets, with agent Jerome Anderson central to virtually every deal although this has put some noses out.

City's cheque book is talking although they have been quoted high prices that are putting them off two available targets - Liverpool keeper Scott Carson and Wigan skipper Leighton Baines. Paraguayan striker Roque Santa Cruz sent a 'come and get me' message to City and Blackburn last night.

He has pledged to quit Bayern Munich, who value him at Â£4.5 m.

Santa Cruz, also in talks with Portuguese side Porto and Turkish giants Galatasaray, said: "I hope I can get a move this week."

His agents have already spoken to Blackburn, while City have him on their massive short-list. The move was turned up to boiling point when he said: "It is hard to imagine staying longer at Bayern."

FerrariTifosi27 · Post by **FerrariTifosi27** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:19 pm

Manchester City are going to have such a stronger squad this season and they are building rapidly.

olympiakos · Post by **olympiakos** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:30 pm

Milanista #22 wrote:Manchester City are going to have such a stronger squad this season and they are building rapidly.

yes they are, this bianchi guy they signed any good?

FerrariTifosi27 · Post by **FerrariTifosi27** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 11:13 pm

olympiakos wrote:
Milanista #22 wrote:Manchester City are going to have such a stronger squad this season and they are building rapidly.
yes they are, this bianchi guy they signed any good?

Yeah, he has been in form all season in Serie A and has well-established himself as one of the best strikers in Italy. He was the 3rd leading goalscorer last season. He scored for Manchester City in his debut on Saturday night with a 4-1 win.

The Kop · Post by **The Kop** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 11:46 pm

he hasnt gone yet.
to be honest i think Castillo would struggle in the harsh world of the premiership.
Only until he became embedded in the Greek culture did he start to make his name at Olympiakos.

He is very tempremental, especially when he cops a tough tackle, which would be about 50times worse than the treatment he gets in Greece.

I rkn a move to Spain would be better suited to him both on and off the field.

blue moon · Post by **blue moon** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:59 am

love to see him come but looks like he's keen to stay in greece

http://www.greeksoccer.com/news/news.ph ... om=&ucat=1

robinfriday10 · Post by **robinfriday10** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 8:32 pm

i'm with u swp

robinfriday10 · Post by **robinfriday10** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 8:39 pm

city also after a 6'5 serb nicola gigic
and martin petrov from athletico madrid

CroCop · Post by **CroCop** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 11:38 pm

robinfriday10 wrote:city also after a 6'5 serb nicola gigic
and martin petrov from athletico madrid

Zigic.

blue moon · Post by **blue moon** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 9:25 am

i think he's 6"8, a bit tall than crouch. i hope so, scored some cracking goals. can get on some of petrovs crosses. shaping up very good for the citizens, hope to pinch fernandez off everton as well.

The one and only · Post by **The one and only** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 1:02 pm

robinfriday10 wrote:city also after a 6'5 serb nicola gigic
and martin petrov from athletico madrid

they got martin petrov

robinfriday10 · Post by **robinfriday10** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 5:50 pm

next?????????????????????

The Kop · Post by **The Kop** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 3:36 am

Castillo signs for Shaktar Donesk for â‚¬16m.
In the end he was stuck between a rock and hard place, but pocketed a cool 25% of the transfer fee (â‚¬4m).

Castillo's existing contract at Olympiakos was doubled at the beginning of last season tieing him to Olympiakos for a further 5 years. After his impressive performances at Copa America he decided that his pay deal was too low.
Demanded another bumper pay rise.

Olympiakos declined and told him to say on the same pay or go play for the highest bidder.

Kokkalis will have some answering to do if his team does not win the title again...

olympiakos · Post by **olympiakos** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 1:13 pm

The Kop wrote:Castillo signs for Shaktar Donesk for â‚¬16m.
In the end he was stuck between a rock and hard place, but pocketed a cool 25% of the transfer fee (â‚¬4m).

Castillo's existing contract at Olympiakos was doubled at the beginning of last season tieing him to Olympiakos for a further 5 years. After his impressive performances at Copa America he decided that his pay deal was too low.
Demanded another bumper pay rise.

Olympiakos declined and told him to say on the same pay or go play for the highest bidder.

Kokkalis will have some answering to do if his team does not win the title again...

i think with that money kop we should be able to pick up a decent replacement, but it needs to happen quick, losing rivaldo and castillo is not a smart move as far as the happiness of the fanatical fans goes, will be interesting to see who we go for now and what sort of quality we get, castillo would have been good for us this season but thats football, cant keep him forever, but its obvious he went for the money, is donetsk in champs league this season?