Nery Castillo

Nery Alberto Castillo Confalonieri (born 13 June 1984) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a forward.

In early 2006, his father and agent began negotiations with Mexican club Guadalajara, but talks were suspended because Olympiacos weren't interested in selling the player at the time.

Subsequently, in 2007, Olympiacos accepted Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk's offer of €20 million for Castillo's services.

On 31 July 2007, Castillo joined Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk on a five-year contract for a fee of €20 million.

[9] On 18 December 2007, it was announced that Castillo had signed a one-year loan agreement with Manchester City,[10] commencing on 1 January 2008.

[2] Castillo played his first game for Manchester City on 5 January 2008 in the third round of the FA Cup, away to West Ham United.

Failing to secure a place at Manchester City, Castillo returned to Shakhtar Donetsk at the end of his loan in January 2009.

[citation needed] After Shakhtar Donetsk had failed to even include Castillo on the bench for the first two matches of the 2009/2010 season he was loaned to Ukrainian league rivals Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk for a year on 30 July 2009.

[15] Castillo was eligible for citizenship in four countries; Uruguay because his father is from there; Italy due to his maternal grandparents; Greece because he resided there for more than six years and Mexico where he was born.

[16] Ultimately, Castillo decided to play for the country of his birth and joined the Mexico national football team.

In the 2007 Copa America, a pre-tournament injury to Jared Borgetti gave Castillo a starting berth,[19] and he scored l in Mexico's first match of the tournament, a 2–0 win against Brazil.