Almost exactly a year after scoring four goals in a baseball stadium against MLS side Real Salt Lake in April of 2022, Girona forward Valentin "Taty" Castellanos would do the same feat against a very different type of "royalty" in football: Real Madrid.
On loan at Girona from New York City FC, the 2021 MLS Golden Boot winner made headlines across the globe last month after his historic multi-goal performance in a spectacular 4-2 win over Madrid, making him the first player since 1947 to collect four goals in a single LaLiga game against the Spanish giants.
"One always dreams of scoring against the biggest clubs," said an upbeat Castellanos to ESPN about his four-goal tally. "It's a very beautiful joy that I've experienced."
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That joy has undoubtedly increased in recent weeks after extending his consecutive scoring streak to four games. Proving to be no fluke and with 13 goals overall in his first season in Spain, it also seems as though it's only a matter of time before a more prominent club takes a chance on the reported €15 million ($16.6m) valuation that NYCFC have set for his contract this summer.
As divergent as that route seems from playing in Yankee Stadium to silencing the defending Champions League holders, Castellanos' development has come within the framework for City Football Group, the global multi-club conglomerate under Manchester City.
Brian Marwood, Managing Director of Global Football for CFG, still remembers watching early videos on Castellanos that his South American scouts had sent over about the fairly unknown player.
"His power, his pace, his technical ability," said Marwood about the teenager that began his professional career with Universidad de Chile. "I think one thing that for me that has always stood out with him all through this journey is the energy and the desire he brings to when he plays."
While Marwood saw a winger that they could form into an efficient No. 9, Castellanos saw an intriguing opportunity when he was offered a chance in 2017 with Montevideo City Torque, an Uruguayan club that had just been purchased by CFG in April of that year.
"I didn't hesitate, because well, I knew that perhaps I was going to have minutes there, I was going to play, I was going to try to win a position that would let me grow as a professional. That's how it happened and that's how I started to grow," Castellanos said.
CFG now owns or is the majority investor of 12 clubs in five continents after the recent acquisition of Brazil's Esporte Clube Bahia. With NYCFC became the first sister club for Manchester City in 2013, CFG are currently averaging more than one club added per year in their decade-long existence.
All sharing a similar football ideology, Castellanos has benefitted from a common on-the-field vision among the teams that has allowed him to move up the CFG ladder.
"Trying to play from the back, trying to play with the goalkeeper, having a style of play that's very similar to the others," said Castellanos about Torque's gameplan that allowed him to adjust to future moves. "That's why it's also helped me a lot, being in these teams."
Although the expectation isn't to be an exact carbon copy of the elite level seen at Manchester City, the foundational DNA remains in CFG's clubs.
"Our philosophy is that we have a style and we appoint coaches to that style. We don't appoint coaches and then keep changing the style everytime we get a new coach," said Marwood. "I think that certainly helps players when they move around the clubs or the coaches when they move around the clubs, that there is something that is in place or is near to be in place."
For Castellanos, that familiarity of the CFG system aided his transition into NYCFC in 2018. When he joined the club that summer, Domenec Torrent, a former assistant for Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, was his head coach. After the exit of Torrent in 2019, Ronny Delia stepped in as NYCFC coach in 2020 and was supported by former Manchester City Women manager, Nick Cushing, who has since become the head coach for NYCFC.
Castellanos soon became one of the top players in MLS. Building on a promising tally of 18 goals and 10 assists from 2018 to 2020, Castellanos eventually became the league's leading goalscorer in 2021 with 19 in total. Energetic, aggressive and well-rounded with his attacking talents, Castellanos also helped NYCFC to an MLS Cup title that same year, while earning plaudits as a member of the league's Best XI for 2021.
"I experienced many wonderful things with the club. It was four and half years where I was living in an incredible city... a part of my heart will always be in New York," Castellanos said.
In the summer of 2022, another opportunity emerged in the form of a loan to Girona, a club recently promoted to LaLiga that CFG has a major stake in. With a desire to test himself in Europe, the loan became official in July of last year, fulfilling a dream to play in one of the top leagues in the world.
Despite establishing himself as a key starter and rapidly adapting to Girona's style, the process hasn't always been a straightforward or easy one. Up against much more demanding opponents and backlines, goals at first didn't arrive as quickly as they did in MLS. In one noteworthy moment on April 10, footage emerged of him crying after a scoreless draw with Barcelona in which he failed to hit the target in a 1v1 situation with goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
"Many know that I had to close my social media accounts [following the Barcelona game], most importantly to try to clear my head a bit, not because of bad messages," Castellanos said.
But just days later, he would earn his redemption. Castellanos scored Girona's first goal in a 2-0 win over Elche. One week later on April 25, he would then become a phenomenon across the planet after his four-goal performance against Real Madrid.
With his social media accounts back up, there was a flurry of gratitude and praise from local fans who watched his stunning showcase.
"All the positive messages," said Castellanos. "A lot of people from Girona thanking me."
The forward hasn't stopped there. Highlighting an improvement in his pace, positioning and endurance since moving to Spain from MLS, the Argentine continued his ongoing scoring streak with a goal on May 1 in Girona's 2-0 away victory over Sevilla. In their most recent game on May 4, Castellanos scored a dramatic 84th minute game-winner over Mallorca in a 2-1 result -- extending his scoring streak to four matches.
"It's a wonderful story [about Taty], I'm pleased for him personally because, as I said earlier, he has an incredible appetite for the game. He has a huge desire to do well. He's a very humble boy. He works every day like it's his last day. He gives everything," Marwood said.
Currently sitting at seventh in the Spanish top flight table, Girona have undoubtedly been bolstered by their forward that is leading the team with 13 goals in his first European season. In fact, with just five matchdays left in LaLiga, Castellanos is currently tied for fifth in the league's overall goalscoring race.
Which begs the question: What's next for the striker?
"I think to start talking about his future and where that might be and where does he go next or does he stay in Girona, we need to leave that until the end of the season because it can get into the minds of players. We don't want any distractions," Marwood said.
As part of wider skepticism regarding how the modern game is changing, there's been no lack of criticism for CFG over the gargantuan amounts of money spent, the swift acquisition of teams across the planet that can turn standalone clubs into affiliates, and worries regarding ownership.
Either way, that shouldn't diminish Castellanos' story or his own advancement as a player.
Benefitting from a system that has given him the platform to succeed abroad, he's now become one of the more fascinating stories across European football this season.
"Starting at a much lower level with Torque, and then now, being in one of the best leagues in the world. That's a motivation for young players," Castellanos said. "It can be done. They can do it [too]."