If you tuned in to watch New York City FC - sister club of Manchester City - play in their maiden MLS Cup final on Saturday, then a certain sky blue-clad striker might have caught your eye.
Valentin Castellanos' stock has risen sharply over the past few days, after the Argentine capped off a fine season with a goal in the final to help NYCFC win their first top-flight title.
His first-half header was cancelled out by a late, late Portland Timbers equaliser, but the Bronx Blues regained their composure to triumph 4-2 on penalties.
But who is the 23-year-old goal machine?
Castellanos, born in Mendoza, Argentina, got his professional break at Montevideo City Torque - then called Club Atletico Torque - in 2017.
It was a few years before City Football Group bought the club and by then the striker had moved on to New York City in 2018, where he has been scoring goals pretty much ever since.
His tally of 22 in 35 games this season has left Pep Guardiola, and reportedly clubs like West Ham and Besiktas, impressed and tempted by a rumoured £15million price tag.
"I think he is a guy who will do the next step in Europe," the City boss said of Castellanos on Monday.
"What I saw when the scouting department talked to me, what [former New York City manager] Dome Torrent said when I was there [in 2018] and talked about him, I know he is a quality player and I think he is ready to make the next step to Europe. We will see where."
An Argentinian striker scoring loads of goals and finding the net on the final day to help secure the title for a team named City? Sounds familiar...
To stop ourselves getting too carried away, we spoke to MLS expert and co-host of the MLS UK Show podcast Henry Hewitt to find out a bit more about American City's star man.
City Is Ours: What kind of player is Valentin Castellanos?
Henry Hewitt:
He actually reminds me a lot of Didier Drogba, he’s very confident to the point where it could be seen as arrogance but has more than shown his quality the season.
He doesn’t just score one type of goal. He’s strong, quick, good with his head and isn’t afraid to bring his teammates into play. Sometimes players who are as confident as Castellanos are reluctant to share the ball about but with his assists this season he’s given up goalscoring opportunities for himself to pass to someone else in a better position.
City Is Ours: What has he been up to this season?
HH: 'Taty' won the Golden Boot in the regular MLS season, scoring 19 in 32 matches, then went on to score 3 in playoff matches including the goal that put NYCFC ahead the lead in MLS Cup final.
NYCFC have some good players who have contributed to their success this season but they wouldn’t have been anywhere near the final if it wasn’t for Castellanos. The next highest scorer was Jesus Medina with nine goals. Taty also had the second-highest amount of assists with eight.
City Is Ours: Could he make it at a high level in Europe or the Premier League?
HH: I think he can. You could argue that he maybe needs another season in MLS to prove he can do it again but I’d be surprised if he’s not playing in Europe after January. Personally, I think he’s come into New York, won them their first MLS Cup and now can leave a hero.
I don’t think he’ll come straight to the Premier League, I think he needs a season or two in one of the other European leagues. But by playing for NYCFC he will always have that link to Manchester City, so who knows what will happen in the future>
To keep up to date on Castellanos and NYCFC, follow Henry and the MLS UK Show on Twitter.
Do you think that Castellanos could make it in the Premier League, or even at City? Follow our City Is Ours writer Alex Brotherton on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
