Manchester City are on the verge of signing River Plate wonderkid Claudio Echeverri despite links with Chelsea.
City have conquered the world in 2023 but they aren’t resting on their laurels.
Top young talents continue to be targeted at the Etihad Stadium with business now ramping up.
Fabrizio Romano reports that City have secured the services of Leeds United teenager Finley Gorman.
City beat three other Premier League clubs to sign Gorman and they look poised to repeat the trick with Claudio Echeverri.
Manchester City poised to sign River Plate sensation Claudio Echeverri
Argentinian reporter Gaston Edul claims that River Plate are about to sell Echeverri to City in a deal worth around $25million (£20million).
Edul notes that whilst Echeverri is signing for City, he is going to stay on loan at River for a while yet – possibly up to a year.
River may have wanted Echeverri for two more years but that move is considered unlikely with City seemingly looking to get Echeverri over to Manchester in 2025.
City pulled off a similar deal for Julian Alvarez in 2022, snapping him up in the January before he moved to the Etihad Stadium six months later.
Echeverri will now follow Alvarez in joining City from River and the excitement is understandable.
The 17-year-old dazzled at the Under-17 World Cup less than a month ago, scoring a hat-trick in a quarter-final clash against Brazil.
Primarily an attacking midfielder, Echeverri has already played six times for River’s first team and is being backed for an enormous future.
Chelsea to miss out on Echeverri
City will feel that they have landed a real gem in Echeverri and beating a Premier League rival will feel even sweeter.
Sky Germany report that Chelsea have been fighting City for Echeverri and had come up with a plan.
Chelsea wanted to sign Echeverri and loan him straight out to French club Strasbourg, who are also owned by Todd Boehly.
Signing for City and staying at River for a while seems like an appealing route for Echeverri, giving him some continuity before following in the footsteps of Alvarez.
City appear to have fended off Chelsea, leaving the Blues to look elsewhere in their hunt for the world’s top young talents.
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