Monday, August 25, 2008

Nery to Spain, for Real

Nery Castillo seems to have found a new home. Though rumors to Italian side Roma were gaining steam, it seems Nery has found a home in Spain, with Real Betis.

Perhaps now one of Mexico's most talented can find some club stability he has not enjoyed for more than year.


Castillo had spent most of his career in Greece, with Olympiakos. But he left the Greek club for Shakhtar Donetsk last summer. His Ukrainian stay didn't last long as he joined Manchester City over the winter, and while that partnership didn't last his manager there is now in charge of the Mexican national team as Sven Goran Eriksson is with Mexico.

Castillo now seems poised to settle down with a club in the Spanish league, which is already home to Mexicans such as Rafael Marquez, Omar Bravo and Andres Guardado. Perhaps with some solid footing underneath, Castillo can shine for Sven as he did for Hugo Sanchez.

7 comments:

The Hammer said...

Nery's impatience has cost him dearly. Olympiakos wanted to keep him around, but he was hell bent on leaving after the Copa America.

Essentially, they screwed him over. Selling him to the highest $$ bidder rather than to his best club option. He was shipped off to Ukraine (against his wishes) and his attitude saw him benched, which cost him 6 months of inactivity.

Anonymous said...

ah betis, the laughing stock of la liga.

Anonymous said...

Awesome! I can't wait for Kanouté to light him up!

Anonymous said...

This is good news for Mexico and good news for Nery. Real Betis will play him lots of minutes. They are in survival mode to stay in La Liga.

The Roma offer was tempting I'm sure, but there is a sense of urgency to get him regular games and there are less superstars at Betis.

If he does well, he'll be on the move again once big clubs see he's back on track after hopefully a good WC performance.

His mood will be improved, how could it not, when you compare living in the Ukraine, and Manchester compared to sunny Sevilla.

BBSC

Gabriel in Argentina said...

Well, we keep waiting for Nery to find a home. Wasn't he supposed to light up the EPL? Maybe he is just not good enough.

The Hammer said...

I think Nery's not "good enough" if you're a Mexican who expects him to be a footballing god. However, if you have realistic expectations and realize he could probably be dangerous in a good club you can tell that a) his attitude has cost him big time, and b) he's also had a run of bad luck.

3 games into Man City and he was injured, just when he was starting to break some minutes.

Anonymous said...

I think he will have a greater chance of succeeding in Spain, then in the EPL.