Claudio Echeverri will join Manchester City in January after his loan with River Plate expires.
Teenage midfielder Echeverri signed for City in January for an initial £12.5 million, but he stayed with his club in Argentina to pursue his development, as Julian Alvarez did in 2022. As part of the agreement, Echeverri would remain at River until the end of 2024.
There were no plans for 2025, but City has opted to bring the 18-year-old to Manchester in January to join Pep Guardiola’s first-team squad. If he does well in training, he could make his first-team debut before the season ends.
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City did the same with Maximo Perrone, a teenage midfielder signed from Velez Sarsfeld in January 2023 who came off the bench in the Premier League and FA Cup before going out on loan to Las Palmas for the 2023/24 season. This year, he plays in Serie A for Como under Cesc Fabregas, having spent the summer on Guardiola’s pre-season tour.
Echeverri’s improvement has continued this year, with him playing regularly for a River side in the Copa Libertadores semi-finals and representing Argentina at the summer Olympics in Paris. Former City defender Martin Demichelis managed River until July 2024 and is optimistic about the player’s future.
“Claudio is truly one of the great emerging talents in River’s football,” the coach added. “We have an excellent squad that consistently generates technically skilled players. However, the day-to-day frenzy at River necessitates not only winning but also being a protagonist in a very unique style, attempting to play effectively.
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