West Ham United striker Taty Castellanos could not have been more forthcoming about his desire to return to the Argentina squad ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
Unfortunately for the twice-capped centre-forward, La Albiceleste coach Lionel Scaloni does not appear to share his desire for a Castellanos recall.
Scaloni revealed his squad for the March internationals this week, and Taty Castellanos was nowhere to be seen.
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West Ham United will have a few representatives at the upcoming World Cup; Jarrod Bowen is in the England squad again, El Hadji Malick Diouf has secured a spot, Mateus Fernandes is surely in contention for Portugal, while Tomas Soucek, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Konstantinos Mavropanos have play-offs to look forward to.
But Castellanos, left out at such a late stage, is not so much facing an uphill battle as scrambling up the north face of the Eiger in socks and slippers.
West Ham United striker Taty Castellanos overlooked by Argentina
Scaloni has picked only one kind-of ‘natural’ number nine in his squad to face Guatemala. Palmeiras striker Jose Lopez also has only two caps, but has clearly now moved ahead of Castellanos in the pecking order.
His two caps came in October. Castellanos, in contrast, has not featured in the iconic blue and white shirt since late-2024.
Speaking recently on Agusneta and Teo D’elia’s YouTube channel, Castellanos acknowledged the difficulty of the task facing him.
That he was still left out by one-time West Ham defender Scaloni, despite the injury-enforced absence of Inter Milan captain Lautaro Martinez, means he can probably start flicking through the TUI catalogues in search of an alternative summer destination.
Castellanos knew he had a challenge winning over Lionel Scaloni
“I don’t know how many chances [I will get to represent my country again],” Castellanos acknowledged. “The important thing is to do things well here. If I perform well and I’m in good shape, obviously one always dreams. You have to go for it.
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“I live and think about the National Team constantly. I train and I think about the National Team all day because I love it. It’s a World Cup year and I wanted to be in a top league. If you get called up, great. If not, you have to be ready regardless.
“It’s a difficult position because I’m competing with the best in the world: Julian [Alvarez, of Atletico Madrid], Lautaro… there are a lot of guys doing great in Europe. You have to be mentally and physically ready so that when your moment comes, you can compete.
“Nobody gives you anything for free.”
For all he brings with regards to his fierce work ethic, Castellanos appears to lack in end product.
In 18 league starts for Lazio and West Ham this season, the former Girona and New York Red Bulls striker has found the net only four times.
Nuno Espirito Santo ‘expects much more’ from his £27 million January signing. A winner away to Aston Villa on Sunday would go some way to dispelling those lingering doubts, even if it may come too late in the day to catch Scaloni’s eye.
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