Santiago Castro Scout Report At Bologna 2024/2025: Bologna’s Final Third Threat – Player Analysis

Who Is Santiago Castro?

Santiago Tomás Castro has been a significant contributor to Bologna FC 1909s excellent form this season.

Bologna are in a position to automatically qualify for the UEFA Champions League next season if they maintain their good form and avoid losing points during the last phase of the Championship.

Bolognas exceptional results started last season when they finished in fifth place with 68 points, ahead of Roma, Lazio, Napoli, and Fiorentina.

This can be considered a remarkable achievement for a team used to finishing in lower spots.

That fifth spot also guaranteed Bologna participation in the UEFA Champions League for the first time since the 1964/65 campaign.

It would be unprecedented for the team to finish in the fourth spot this season and qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the second consecutive time, preventing teams like Juventus, Roma, Lazio, Fiorentina, and Milan from getting that spot.

But to succeed, Bologna will have to get positive results against Napoli at home, Atalanta away, Inter Milan at home, Udinese away, Juventus at home, Milan away, Fiorentina away, and Genoa at home.

This means that Bologna will face most of the big teams in the remaining part of the season, and many of these games against their direct opponents will be away games.

That’s why it will be necessary for players like Castro to be 100% ready and impactful in these games to further confirm his traits as a valuable striker in Serie A.

This will be the most suitable chance for him to prove his finishing qualities against tough teams and in crucial encounters, knowing that he has already shown previously that he is capable of scoring against any Serie A side.

Castro is a 20-year-old striker who started his footballing career at Vélez Sarsfield in 2021.

He spent almost three seasons in the Argentinian Primera División before signing a contract with Bologna in January 2024.

It is true that he scored only one goal in his debut Serie A season, yet he has already been capable of scoring eight in Serie A this season, and he is expected to add more goals in what remains of the campaign.

Internationally speaking, Castro has been participating with the Argentinian U15 and U20 teams in the past few years, and he is expected to showcase his skills more consistently to get the chance to participate with the senior Argentinian team soon.

In this tactical analysis and scout report on the Argentinian, we will explore his attacking skills, especially his finishing, goalscoring, and playmaking talent.

The analysis will also study his general profile, strengths, and weaknesses, as well as his roles within Rossoblù’s tactics and his importance in Vincenzo Italiano’s system.

Santiago Castro Strengths & Weaknesses At Bologna

Lets look at Castro’s general profile.

We can easily find similarities between him and players like Julián Álvarez and Lautaro Martínez, as Castro has the potential and skills to become as efficient as these two key players.

Castro is associated with these two players because all three of them are not very tall yet very powerful physically and can easily resist defenders’ disturbance.

The three players are also skilful enough, whether in terms of dribbling, agility, or creative and accurate passing, to make them very useful in the playmaking phase and especially in assist-making.

Castro has all these traits, too, and has an advantage that can make him stand out in the near future: his shots from distance have been exceptional.

He combines power with accuracy and succeeds in scoring beautiful goals from distance.

This goalscoring talent has been remarkable, especially during this season, as he scored many goals from distance even when he had the ball in situations that make it complicated to shoot.

Therefore, making the difference with such unexpected shots adds a lot to Bologna’s attacking solutions, making it way more difficult for their opponents to defend against the Rossoblù’s attacks.

Castro’s goalscoring numbers are not as high as they should be at the moment, especially considering his pizza map.

Nevertheless, his impact on games and his ability to score or provide key passes should not be underestimated, as he is becoming more impactful after almost every match.

Moreover, Castro’s roles at Bologna are not restricted to shooting from distance.

He also often attacks the space behind the defensive line, plays as a stationary striker whenever needed, leans towards the wings to receive the ball, switches to the opposite side, and retreats to provide key passes.

Castro’s weaknesses are mainly his defensive input, his abilities in the air, and the number of dangerous passes he makes per match.

This means that Castro should work further to provide more dangerous passes per game because he has the vision and the passing abilities needed to surprise any defence, yet he does not use his passing skills as often as needed.

Santiago Castro Radar Map

Santiago Castro Finishing Ability

Inherited from Argentina’s historical strikers, such as Diego Maradona, Gabriel Batistuta, Diego Milito, Hernan Crespo, Sergio Agüero, Carlos Tévez, and many others, Castro’s natural finishing can be considered exceptional already.

He has the potential to improve his finishing and reach the level of some of the mentioned names.

Castro’s agi