After spending nearly £50 million on two seemingly goal-shy centre-forwards in Taty Castellanos and Pablo Felipe, West Ham United’s reported interest in Santiago Castro may have some fearing a repeat.
West Ham have ‘knocked on the door’ at Bologna for their £35 million-rated Argentine, according to Italian publication Tuttosport this week.
In 94 matches since joining the Rossoblu from Velez Sarsfield back in 2024, however, Santiago Castro has scored just 22 times. Across 70 Serie A appearances, he has hit the net on 16 occasions.
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Forget those Sergio Aguero and Lautaro Martinez comparisons, then, Castro’s average of a goal every four games hardly suggests that West Ham United are chasing the prolific number nine they have been lacking since Michail Antonio’s heyday.
The underlying statistics, though, do tell a more positive tale.
Santiago Castro could join Taty Castellanos at West Ham United
Per Data MB, Castro sits in the 51st percentile when it comes to his conversion rate, scoring with 14 per cent of his shots. Castellanos, in contrast, sits in the 25th [scoring with only nine per cent].
He also ranks far higher when it comes to ‘non-penalty goals’.
Both at Lazio and West Ham, Castellanos ranks pretty low for ‘expected goals’. Not only has he only scored twice in the Premier League since that £27 million transfer, he has failed to record a shot on target in five of his eleven appearances.
Castro, though, has scored seven Serie A goals this season from an XG of 5.95.
Those statistics do not exactly knock the socks off – Swansea City talisman Zan Vipotnik is another target after scoring 17 goals from an XG of eight – but Castro does appear to be a more natural centre-forward than his fellow Argentine.
Castro also averages more shots per 90 minutes.
The youngster is far from the complete package – if he was, West Ham probably wouldn’t have a chance in hell of getting him anyway – but he does have the makings of a fine number nine.
Santiago Castro has been called ‘Carlos Tevez 2.0’! 🇦🇷
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Castro has shades of Carlos Tevez and Lautaro Martinez
What he lacks right now in ruthlessness, he may make up for in intent. If Taty Castellanos can be blamed for failing to put himself in goalscoring positions frequently enough, Castro at least receives enough chances to miss them.
What is it they say about strikers? Rather one who misses ten chances a game than one who didn’t even get a chance to miss?
“He’s a boy who, given how he trains, his hunger, and the desire he puts into training, can really become a top player,” Bologna coach Vincenzo Italiano told reporters in 2025.
“He’s showing the qualities of a true centre-forward, but he also adds great sacrifices for the team and often has the ability to make himself available for everyone. I’m convinced he has a bright future ahead of him.”
Comparisons have frequently been drawn with a young Carlos Tevez and Lautaro Martinez. It famously took Tevez 16 Premier League games to open his account for the Hammers in 2006/07. And while Inter Milan skipper Martinez is one of the most fearsome goalscorers on the planet right now, in his first season at the San Siro, he scored only nine times in 35 matches.
Castro is not only similar to Tevez and Martinez in style, then, but also because he too has the tools to explode after a promising, if occasionally profligate start.
“Santi has improved a lot. A lot!” former Nerazzuri striker Julio Cruz told Gazzetta dello Sport. “The two [Castro and Martinez] are very similar, especially in terms of their ‘garra‘ [fighting spirit] their conviction in trying to lead the game, and also in their ability to see the goal.
“Lautaro, however, has much more experience, and it shows. Castro is younger. He has time to grow, and I believe he will become an important striker for Argentina.”
Maybe, just maybe, for West Ham too.
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