Shakhtar capture Mexican Castillo
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Article summary
"Every player has his price," said Olympiacos CFP after selling their Mexican international forward Nery Alberto Castillo to FC Shakhtar Donetsk for €20m.
Article body
FC Shakhtar Donetsk have signed Olympiacos CFP's Mexican international forward Nery Alberto Castillo for a fee of €20m.
'Every player has his price'
The 23-year-old forward, who helped Mexico reach the semi-finals of the recent Copa América, has agreed a five-year contract with Mircea Lucescu's side after arriving in Ukraine late last night. Olympiacos sporting director Ilia Ivić said Shakhtar's offer was simply too good to turn down: "The offer was very big and every player has his price. All players get sold at some point. Olympiacos are not a club like Real Madrid [CF] or Manchester United [FC] that get huge amounts of money from television deals."
Firm favourite
Castillo had made himself a firm favourite at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium having joined as a 14-year-old. Former coach Trond Sollied gave Castillo regular first-team football last season and the player caught the eye with some impressive displays in the UEFA Champions League. He was then top scorer at the Copa América in Venezuela with four goals.
Busy summer
Shakhtar take on FC Pyunik in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League tonight. Castillo's signing follows yesterday's €10m acquisition of Brazilian right-back Ilsinho and the earlier arrival of €8m Italian striker Cristiano Lucarelli. The club have also signed Oleksandr Gladkiy, Volodymyr Priyomov, Volodymyr Yezerskiy and Andriy Pyatov, while Matuzalem, Andriy Vorobey and Vyacheslav Sviderskiy have all departed.
