West Ham United’s Taty Castellanos has revealed he had an opportunity to join River Plate earlier in his career.
He’s spoken to TNT Sports in Argentina and Bolvaip have relayed his comments about the failed River Plate move.
The current West Ham player had trials at River Plate and Club Atlético Lanús during his youth career.
River Plate had called him the second time, before turning down the possibility of signing him. According to the 27-year-old, the Argentine giants had rejected him because of his physicality.
West Ham man on initial struggles
“I hadn’t played in the AFA [Argentine Football Association] and I went to River Plate and Lanús for trials,” he said.
“I made the River Plate team the first time, but the second time, they made me come back after two months and told me I was too skinny.”
The Argentina international, born in Mendoza, has talked about the difficulties he endured during his youth career.
“I needed to grow a bit physically. It’s normal, I was playing in the Mendoza League, sometimes I didn’t even eat,” Castellanos explained.
Valuable lesson from River Plate rejection
Bolvaip or the West Ham attacker haven’t specified or indicated when he had trials with River Plate and Club Atlético Lanús.
He trained with youngsters that were part of the Argentine club’s setup. Castellanos realised what he was lacking after coming up against the River Plate youngsters.
“I was going to compete against kids from River Plate’s academy who were in the gym all day, who went to school there, and lived in the boarding house. They’d make the difference; they’d just throw you a long ball and that was it,” he added.
“I went back to Mendoza, and I told my mom, ‘I need you to pay for a gym membership’. I realised myself that I was lacking and needed to grow. My football skills were good, I knew how to handle the ball, but I lacked physical strength.”
Failed River Plate move a blessing in disguise
Castellanos failed to impress in Argentina and moved to Chile when Universidad de Chile signed him in 2015. Two years later, Uruguayan side Torque signed him and then sold him to New York City FC in 2018.
His performances for the American club helped him secure a transfer to Girona in 2022 and then to Lazio a year later.
On January 5th, the South American joined Nuno Espírito Santo’s side on a permanent deal. Lazio manager Maurizio Sarri regretted the decision to sell him to West Ham.
All this wouldn’t have been possible had he joined River Plate during his youth career.
