Transfer Central: Nery Castillo courted by Sven, but won by Shakhtar Donetsk

The Ukrainian powerhouse has shelled out upwards of $20 million for the Mexican playmaker who has been "hiding" in the Greek Premiership for some time now. The deal is reported to be for four-years and should be confirmed on Monday. It looks like Castillo prefers to wallow in what some would call 'obscurity' - the club, itself, however, has made some decent strides in the past couple years and possess such talent as Brazilian midfielder/forward Fernandinho, Copa America stud Elano and forward Brandao, wing midfielder Darijo Srna, Czech defensive stalwart and former Newcastle target Tomas Hubschmann, and promising Ukrainian goalkeeper Bohdan Shust. Their profile skyrocketed after securing prolific Italian forward Cristiano Luccarelli from Livorno in Serie A. Luccarelli has been at the top of the Serie A scoring charts for some time now.


It looks like Manchester City's hope to bring the 23-year old to England has failed, despite now having the cash to drop too.