Everyone has a price, or so the story goes. Even Santiago Castro, the 2004-born Argentine forward whom Bologna bought from Velez Sarsfield for about 10 million euros, is starting to look expensive. Rumors and offers are arriving. The twist is that the people who run Bologna are pushing back.

Why Bologna is digging in its heels

The club leadership, including Claudio Fenucci, Giovanni Sartori and Marco Di Vaio, have made a clear decision. Their plan is to keep Castro at Casteldebole for at least another season. They see him as a building block for the team Vincenzo Italiano will lead next year, and they are not eager to listen to purchase proposals right now.

Who is interested

  • Milan have shown interest domestically.
  • Several clubs from the Premier League and LaLiga are also reported to be watching him.

Bologna’s technical area expected this. The club secured Castro with a long view, anticipating that an auction could develop as he continued to grow. Now that bidding is starting, the club is trying to protect its asset.

Why a sale would be risky

Selling Castro now would be more than just a transfer. It could be genuinely dangerous for Bologna’s short term plans. The team is already likely to lose several important players in the coming months, and a Castro exit would add to that instability.

  • Jhon Lucumi is set to leave.
  • Remo Freuler is departing.
  • Riccardo Orsolini could also go.
  • Thijs Dallinga remains another forward on the move market.

Remove Castro from that list and Bologna would be losing a key piece of its attacking future at the same time it is losing other pillars. The leadership worries a sale would signal a lack of ambition to both the coach and the fans, and force a near-complete rebuild that would contradict recent assurances from club officials.

What about Dallinga?

Bologna’s current plan is pragmatic. They will watch Thijs Dallinga closely between now and June, in both Serie A and European competition. If he shows consistency and growth, they could keep him and build the attack around both Castro and Dallinga.

If Dallinga asks to leave, the club would likely accept. If he does not convince, Sartori and Di Vaio, with Italiano’s approval, are prepared to let him go and look for a striker who can reliably score the goals the team has often missed.

For now, the message is clear. Castro is considered untouchable for at least another season, unless market forces and offers move everyone to change their minds. Bologna is betting that keeping him is the safer, more ambitious route.

© RIPRODUZIONE RISERVATA