Nery Alberto Castillo Confalonieri (born June 13, 1984 in San Luis Potosí), nicknamed El Diablo[1] is a Mexican international football player, who currently plays for Manchester City. He began his career at Uruguayan club Danubio, moving to Greece at the age of 16 to play for Olympiacos.

Castillo spent seven years at Olympiacos, gradually developing into a regular starter over a three year period. Once established in the team Castillo helped Olympiacos to three consecutive league titles, prompting Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk to spend €20 million to secure his services in 2007. After only a handful of starts for Shakhtar Castillo was dropped for refusing to allow team-mate Cristiano Lucarelli to take a penalty. In December 2007 he moved on a year`s loan to Manchester City of the English Premier League, paying a substantial amount of the loan fee himself.

He made his international debut for Mexico in June 2007, and represented his country in the 2007 Copa America.

Club career

[edit] Early career

Castillo was born in the Mexican city San Luis Potosí, where his father, a Uruguayan professional footballer, played for San Luis.[2] The family moved to South America while Castillo was still a small child. He started playing for club Danubio in the youth team. While participating with Danubio`s youth team in a Brazilian tournament, Castillo was spotted by scouts from European clubs. He went on trial with Manchester United[1] of England`s Premier League, but Castillo failed to obtain a work permit and the door to join the club was closed.[3][4]

[edit] Olympiacos

At the age of 16 Castillo`s father accepted an offer of the Greek club Olympiacos. Three years after he joined Olympiacos, Castillo became a regular starter in both the domestic and European competitions. He became a fan favourite with the Gate 7 Ultras[5] and was even given the number seven shirt in deference to them.

After that point his career took a down slide. A rumoured transaction to the Italian side Inter Milan never happened, and changes in the management of his club combined with the arrival of former Brazil international Rivaldo relegated him from his starting role to the bench. Other off the field issues with the coach and teammates have contributed to increase the perception that Castillo is a problematic player.

In early 2006 his father and agent began negotiations with the Mexican club Chivas de Guadalajara, but talks were interrupted because Olympiacos weren`t interested in negotiating for the player at the time.

Before this, in what Castillo thought was his last game for Olympiacos, he scored a free kick after "stealing" it from a team mate who was preparing to take it. He celebrated by running the length of the field and throwing his shirt to his fans at Gate 7. He was left looking somewhat sheepish without a shirt for the restart.

During the 2006-2007 campaign Castillo was a solid starter. Many reports considered that the player had changed his attitude and solved off the field issues. The prospect of a more mature Castillo encouraged the officers of Olympiacos to renew his contract, extending its length four more years, and improving its economic conditions.

Castillo was the leading scorer for Olympiacos during the preparatory phase for the 2006-2007 season, accumulating seven goals in friendly games. From then on his form only improved, scoring several goals in the UEFA Champions L