River Plate General Secretary Stefano Di Carlo has told TNT Sports that Manchester City’s Claudio Echeverri won’t stay at the Argentinian club beyond the January transfer window.
The Cityzens paid £12.5m to sign the teenager at the start of this year before loaning him back to River Plate for twelve months.
After impressing for the Argentinian club this season, there was some hope that they could extend his stay beyond his current loan spell.
However, TNT Sports report that they have had it confirmed “he will leave for Manchester City” at the end of December.
How has Echeverri been performing for River Plate?
The 18-year-old has scored 4 goals and contributed 3 assists in 30 appearances this campaign, which isn’t a spectacular return.
It is up for debate whether Echeverri is ready to play in the Premier League based on those numbers but the fact that River Plate are so keen to keep him suggests that they feel he has the potential to explode in the not-too-distant future.
City could do with extra options in forward areas
Echeverri is usually deployed as a No.10, so you can’t see him getting much game time in his favoured position when he does move to the Etihad in January. Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan can all play in that role if needed.
However, River Plate have also used the Argentinian out wide, so he could get some minutes as part of City’s front three. The Manchester club did not replace Julian Alvarez when he left for Atletico Madrid so some additional cover for Erling Haaland up front is needed.
There has been speculation that Pep Guardiola’s side may also add another out-and-out striker when the transfer window reopens, with Celtic’s Kyogo Furuhashi still being tracked, but Echeverri would provide additional depth.
Find out who is in Manchester City’s first-team squad for the 2024/2025 season here
