.jpg) Castellanos withNew York City FC in 2023 | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Valentín Mariano José Castellanos Giménez | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1998-10-03)3 October 1998 (age 27) | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Mendoza, Argentina | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1] | |||||||||||||
| Position | Forward | |||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||
Current team | Lazio | |||||||||||||
| Number | 11 | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| Villa Nueva | ||||||||||||||
| Independiente Rivadavia | ||||||||||||||
| –2015 | Leonardo Murialdo | |||||||||||||
| 2015–2017 | Universidad de Chile | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Universidad de Chile | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | →Torque (loan) | 11 | (2) | |||||||||||
| 2018 | Torque | 12 | (2) | |||||||||||
| 2018 | →New York City FC (loan) | 8 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2019–2023 | New York City FC | 101 | (49) | |||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | →Girona (loan) | 35 | (13) | |||||||||||
| 2023– | Lazio | 70 | (16) | |||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Argentina Olympic | 8 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2024– | Argentina | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23:59, 4 October 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 14 November 2024 | ||||||||||||||
Valentín Mariano José Castellanos Giménez (born 3 October 1998), known asTaty Castellanos, is an Argentine professionalfootballer who plays as aforward forSerie A clubLazio and theArgentina national team.
As a youth, Castellanos was rejected by bothRiver Plate andLanús.[2] Castellanos started his club career in the youth academy ofUniversidad de Chile. He made his senior team debut in the2017 Copa Sudamericana againstCorinthians playing 14 minutes. He then moved toTorque on a one-year loan in July 2017. While on loan, he scored two goals in 11 appearances and helped the club win theSegunda Division title and secure promotion to Uruguay's top flight. On 1 July 2018, his move fromUniversidad de Chile toTorque was made permanent.[citation needed]
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On 27 July 2018, Castellanos joinedMajor League Soccer sideNew York City FC on loan until the end of the 2018 season.[3] In his first match with New York City FC, he started and scored a goal againstVancouver Whitecaps FC. NYCFC exercised their option to buy Castellanos on 29 November 2018, ahead of the 2019 season.[4]
In 2019, Castellanos played an integral role in New York City's attack, scoring 11 times and adding seven assists in 30 matches. This form helped NYCFC finish atop the Eastern Conference standings and qualify for their firstCONCACAF Champions League.[citation needed]
In 2020, Castellanos declined in his production, scoring six goals and adding three assists in 22 matches during a season shortened by theCOVID-19 pandemic. Castellanos suffered from an inability to finish chances as he had an xG/90 of 0.65, but ended the season with G/90 of only 0.40.[5] NYCFC would finish fifth in the Eastern Conference standings. During the first round of the2020 MLS Cup Playoffs Castellanos had his initial penalty in a shootout vs.Orlando City saved, but VAR overturned the call due to goalkeeperPedro Gallese leaving the goal line early. He scored his second penalty but NYCFC lost 6–5 in the shootout, eliminating them from the playoffs.[citation needed]
Castellanos was able to finish much more consistently during the2021 season, becoming only the fifth player in MLS history to score in each of their club's first four matches. Shortly after this milestone, on 13 May 2021, Castellanos signed a new deal with NYCFC through 2025.[6] Castellanos again played an integral role in New York City's attack throughout the 2021 season. He significantly improved his G/90 to 0.62 and raised his xG/90 to 0.70 showing improvement in his movement, creation ability, and finishing.[5] He was especially good near the season's conclusion, scoring 12 goals in NYCFC's last 14 matches.[7] During this stretch, he was awarded MLS Player of the Month for August and the NYCFC Player of the Month for both August and September. He ended the season as the team's leading scorer with 19 goals and added eight assists, winning theMLS Golden Boot[8] overDC United'sOla Kamara on the assist tiebreaker. Castellanos also led the league in shots and shots on target with 132 and 57, respectively.[9] Castellanos scored in all three of his2021 MLS Cup Playoff appearances, including the first goal of the2021 MLS Cup, which NYCFC won on penalties, giving Castellanos the first domestic trophy of his career.[citation needed]
On 25 July 2022, Castellanos joined newly promotedLa Liga clubGirona on a season-long loan.[10] On 25 April 2023, he scored four goals for Girona in their 4–2 victory againstReal Madrid, making him the first player to score four against Real Madrid in a league match since December 1947, whenEsteban Echevarría scored five goals forOviedo in a 7–1 win.[11][12]
On 21 July 2023, Castellanos joinedSerie A sideLazio for an undisclosed fee.[13][14]
In October 2019, Castellanos was called up for the first time to theArgentina national under-23 football team by coachFernando Batista for two friendly matches againstMexico.[15] However, he debuted during the2020 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament, which Argentina managed to win.[16]
In August 2024, Castellanos received his first call-up for thesenior national team for the games againstChile andColombia for the2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.[17] He debuted on 5 September the same year against the former opponent, coming on as a substitute toJulián Alvarez in the 89th minute that resulted in a 3–0 victory for Argentina.[18]
Castellanos' father is a naturalized Chilean, and through him he is eligible to play for theChile national team.[19]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Torque (loan) | 2017 | Uruguayan Segunda División | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 2 | ||
| 2018 | Uruguayan Primera División | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | — | — | 19 | 3 | |||
| Total | 23 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 5 | ||
| New York City FC (loan) | 2018 | MLS | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 1 | ||
| New York City FC | 2019 | MLS | 30 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 11 | ||
| 2020 | 22[c] | 6 | — | 1 | 0 | 4[d] | 0 | 2[e] | 1 | 29 | 7 | |||
| 2021 | 32 | 19 | — | 3 | 3 | — | 1[f] | 1 | 36 | 23 | ||||
| 2022 | 17 | 13 | 2 | 0 | — | 6[d] | 4 | — | 25 | 17 | ||||
| Total | 101 | 49 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 124 | 58 | ||
| Girona (loan) | 2022–23 | La Liga | 35 | 13 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | 37 | 14 | |||
| Lazio | 2023–24 | Serie A | 35 | 4 | 4 | 2 | — | 7[g] | 0 | — | 46 | 6 | ||
| 2024–25 | 29 | 10 | 0 | 0 | — | 11[h] | 4 | — | 40 | 14 | ||||
| 2025–26 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 6 | 2 | |||||
| Total | 70 | 16 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 92 | 22 | ||
| Career total | 237 | 83 | 11 | 3 | 14 | 4 | 28 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 293 | 100 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 2024 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 2 | 0 | |
Torque
New York City
Argentina Olympic
Individual
