Manchester City have finalised an agreement with River Plate for their highly-rated forward Claudio Echeverri, HITC Football understands.
17-year-old Echeverri, who can play across the forward line, has already made his senior debut for River and in the last 12-months has emerged as one of the most in-demand young players in South America.
Echeverri underlined his promise at the recent Under-17 World Cup when he stole the show with a famous hat-trick against arch-rivals Brazil.
A host of clubs were keen on Echeverri but Manchester City have long been on his trail and HITC Football sources have confirmed that they have seen off competition from Premier League rivals Chelsea and Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid to seal a deal.
Deal agreed
City, who are also interested in Echeverri’s River team-mates Agustin Ruberto and Ian Subiabre, have agreed a deal worth around €25m.
Echeverri has already agreed personal terms and he has committed to a six-year deal with City – but he won’t move to England for another 12-months, instead spending 2024 back on loan with River before arriving in England in January 2025.
It is a similar deal that saw Julian Alvarez arrive at the club in 2022 having spent an additional six-months in Argentina before beginning his City career.
Two more River youngsters could follow
Now the deal for Echeverri is complete – HITC Football understands that talks are continuing over Ruberto and Subiabre. City moved to finalise Echeverri first because of the interest being shown in him, but they are now hopeful they can bring both to England in the future too.
Ruberto, 17, and Subiabre, 16, were also part of the Argentina squad at the Under-17 World Cup, have also been attracting interest from City’s Premier League rivals Tottenham and Brighton, whilst Real and Barca are also well aware of their recent progress.
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