Taty Castellanos: West Ham have struck gold with €29 million signing

Robin Bairner

• 5 Jan 2026 06:50 CST
• 4 min read

Analysis

West Ham United have confirmed the signing of Taty Castellanos from Lazio, and all the evidence points to him being a potential season-saver.

With Nuno Espirito Santo’s side rooted in the Premier League relegation zone, West Ham have acted quickly in the market to strengthen their ranks.

Niklas Fullkrug has departed for AC Milan, and the Hammers have signed a player in the form of Castellanos capable of mixing it with the very best Premier League forwards.

Current ETV

Taty Castellanos

F (C)

Lazio

Taty Castellanos

F (C)

Lazio

€24.9M

ETV Range

€22.4M - €27.3M

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The Hammers have completed the signing for the 27-year-old forward for €29 million – 15% of which will head to New York City FC by way of a sell-on clause. He has signed a deal that will expire in 2030.

The Argentina international’s numbers may not look particularly impressive this term – he has only two goals and three assists in 11 games – but the signs are that Nuno is making a season-changing signing for West Ham.

What type of player is he?

West Ham describe Castellanos as "an aggressive, deep-lying forward capable of scoring and creating goals, linking play and working hard for his team."

He is capable of living up to this exciting billing.

Castellanos is a versatile forward who has mainly operated as a shadow striker for Lazio this season. Last term, he was used in a more advanced role and scored 10 times in 29 Serie A outings. It may well be that he is given this position at the London Stadium.

Despite the change of system, Castellanos ranks among Serie A’s best-performing centre-forwards this term, according to data analytics firm SciSports. This analysis, which is drawn from hundreds of in-game data points, puts his displays on a par with Inter Milan forward Lautaro Martinez.

But it also suggests he is performing around the same level as Evan Ferguson, who is struggling for form with Roma and flopped with the Hammers in the second half of last term.

There is strong evidence that a repeat of that catastrophic deal will not be repeated.

Castellanos: West Ham’s star man

Castellanos will arrive at West Ham as their best player, by SciSports’ calculations. He has a SciSkill rating of 103.3.

This is virtually identical to Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres and Manchester United forward Benjamin Sesko, who SciSports also compare him to in terms of his style. While Castellanos will arrive for €30m, the Gunners spent €66m on the Swede and Man Utd splashed out €76.5m on the Slovak.

Remarkably, Castellanos is thought to have a marginally higher ceiling than Gyokeres, highlighting the value of this deal.

A strong fit for Nuno’s plans

Perhaps the real win for West Ham, though, comes in terms of their fit for the player.

Based on SciSports’ Career Advice analysis, Nuno’s side are an excellent option for him. The Hammers get a Club Fit score of 77, based upon various factors ranging from development and playing time to style and formation. This puts the Hammers third among all clubs, behind only AC Milan (85) and Aston Villa (82).

From the club’s perspective, the marks of style and formation are strong pointers as to how well a player can transition into their system. Castellanos scored five stars in terms of playing style and three for formation.

Indeed, their score would be much higher is they did not rate with just one star in terms of development.

This may point to Castellanos becoming unsettled at West Ham if either they or he doesn’t progress, but in the short term, he ticks all the boxes and has the potential to be their saviour from the drop.