West Ham winning race for MLS Golden Boot winner as New York City FC set asking price

West Ham are now in pole position to sign New York City striker Valentin Castellanos - with Argentine giants River Plate struggling to meet the 23-year-old’s £12.8million valuation.

Castellanos has become a talisman for Manchester City ’s sister club in the United States and River Plate coach Marcelo Gallardo wants him to replace Etihad-bound Julian Alvarez. But the Buenos Aires-based club cannot afford NYCFC’s asking price - and the fee won’t be any problem for the ambitious Hammers.

Boss David Moyes wants to add more goals to his team after finishing seventh in the Premier League - and Castellanos is regarded as a gamble worth taking at the price NYCFC are demanding.

Castellanos scored 19 goals and made eight assists to win the Golden Boot last season before scoring in all three play-off games as NYCFC won the MLS title for the first time. He was also named as the league's Most Valuable Player, and has weighed in with seven goals in 10 appearances this season.

Born in Mendoza, the Argentina Under-23 international began his career in the youth system of Universidad de Chile. But he was quickly snapped up by another of the City Football Group’s clubs when Montevideo Torque took him to Uruguay.

Castelanos helped Torque to win promotion before moving to the MLS in 2018. He is contracted to NYCFC until 2025, but has already told the club that he would like to move on to further his international career.

He admitted in March, when River Plate began stepping up their search for a replacement for Alvarez, that he would like to move back to Argentina to catch the eye of national team coach Lionel Scaloni.

Castellanos said: “If the head coach of Argentina knew I was playing for River Plate, one of the biggest clubs in the