This is not the way Nuno Espirito Santo was expected to utilise Pablo Felipe and Taty Castellanos following their arrivals at West Ham United from Gil Vicente and Lazio respectively.
Pablo’s conversion rate put even Erling Haaland’s to shame in the Portuguese top flight. Statistically speaking, he was among the best finishers in Europe during the first half of the campaign.
Valentin ‘Taty’ Castellanos, in contrast, was seen more as a scorer of great goals rather than a particularly great goalscorer. The all-action Argentine often played in a second-striker role behind a number nine in Italy.
Yet, in their first few weeks together at West Ham United, Pablo has been the one playing deeper, with Castellanos leading the line.
Who will prove to be a better signing and why?! 🤔
As such, while the former awaits his first goal in English football, it was Castellanos who got on the end of Crysencio Summerville’s fine cross to fire the Hammers into the FA Cup fourth round.
Cesar Peixoto, Pablo’s former head coach at Gil Vicente, has no complaints about the departure of the Braga-born Brazilian from a team sitting one place behind Jose Mourinho’s Benfica in the Primeira Liga.
He is fully aware of Gil Vicente’s place in the pecking order. As for Pablo’s place in West Ham’s pecking order, presuming Lucas Paqueta is going to re-join Flamengo before the deadline, their £18 million newbie currently appears the man best-placed to step into his shoes.
Cesar Peixoto accepts Gil Vicente had to sell Pablo Felipe to West Ham United
The West Ham supporters haven’t had many chances to witness Pablo’s ruthless streak thus far. He fired a curling effort over the bar on debut against Nottingham Forest and attempted an ambitious overhead kick against Tottenham. That, though, is the closest he has come.
The challenge facing Peixoto is to find someone capable of replacing a forward who scored 10 goals in 12 starts until his departure. Ten goals from an XG of just 5.7.
“To be as honest as possible, I said it before and I’m unlikely to contradict myself; if nobody left [this month] I didn’t want anyone [to come in],” Peixoto tells A Bola.
“That means I’m extremely happy with the team I have, with the squad we put together at the start of the season. But it’s part of the project. If big teams have to sell [their star players], Gil Vicente does.
“There won’t be a mass exodus from the team. That doesn’t make sense, and that’s not the plan. But the sooner the transfer window closes, the better, because we have a lot of quality here and it’s normal that other teams are looking at us.”
Portuguese clubs are always at risk of Premier League spending
Deep-pocketed rivals Porto, Benfica and Sporting Lisbon have frequently sold their best performers for big sums over the years. Gil Vicente might not be able to command the same sort of fees, but the offer on the table from West Ham was far too good to turn down.
Pablo is comfortably their record departure. He left for some £12 million more than the fee Porto paid for Fran Navarro in 2023.
“Let’s not lie, [goalkeeper Andrew, who left for Flamengo a few days ago] was an important player for us, like Pablo,” Peixoto adds. “But this is the project. We have to create our own solutions to be competitive, and I have no doubt that we will be.”
Matheus Fernandes hails Pablo’s impact in East London
An absolute BALLER 😍 – Rate how good he was against Spurs!
Due to the massive financial disparities between the richest leagues and the, well, less rich, clubs in Portugal are forever at the mercy of their minted English cousins. West Ham’s own Mateus Fernandes left Ruben Amorim’s terrific Sporting side for relegation fodder Southampton in 2024, after all.
Speaking of the former Saints schemer, Fernandes is expecting big things from Pablo in East London. A first goal for his new employers against Sunderland on Saturday would help to quell any lingering doubts.
“[Pablo] is still young. I played in the Portuguese league, and it’s so different from England to Portugal,” Fernandes said after his mesmeric midfield performance during the 2-1 triumph over Tottenham.
“The intensity, the defenders, every team has good players. So, he’s learning about the football, the pockets where he needs to be. I think he did a very good job, him and Taty, they helped the team, they helped the manager, the club.”
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