Sporting director breaks silence on imminent Manchester City January signing

River Plate Sporting director Enzo Francescoli has discussed Manchester City’s expected signing of midfielder Claudio Echeverri.

Manchester City are expected to complete the signing of River Plate and Argentina star Claudio Echeverri this month, after beating Barcelona and Chelsea to the signature of the teenager.

The 18-year-old looks set to become the third young Argentinian to sign for Pep Guardiola’s side, following in the footsteps of Julian Alvarez and Maximo Perrone, after both recently swapped the Primera Division for the Premier League.

Echeverri rose to acclaim after captaining the Argentina Under-17 squad at the recent FIFA World Cup back in November, scoring five goals – including a hat-trick against Brazil at the quarter-final stages.

The teenager is expected to finalise an initial £12 million move to the Etihad Stadium upon the opening of the Argentinian transfer window on January 25th, according to the Mail Sport.

Echeverri won’t move to Manchester City immediately however, with the midfielder returning to River Plate on loan for a further year, having previously refused to sign a new contract with the South American side.

The transfer fee for the 18-year-old could also rise to £21.7 million, with the deal structured similarly to Alvarez’s transfer from River Plate in January 2022.

The deal is expected to be finalised during the current transfer window, with Sport Witness relaying recent comments by River Plate Sporting director Enzo Francescoli, who confirmed the transfer.

“He’s very calm, I see him the same as last year. Obviously, he must have his internal things. But he deserves it, he’s a great guy,” said Francescoli.

“He’s very well, with his feet on the ground beyond what happens to him at 18, which is a lot. I spoke to him a couple of days ago. He’s very good, calm.

“The inevitable ones are these, players like Claudio (Echeverri) who surprise, who excite many people.

“Far away markets and closer ones like the Brazilian one, which has more economic power than us and has an easier path in the economic part.

“River have the condition of at least having him play for a year. Things have been done well, with the will of the boy, his representative and City, who could have waited six months to take him.

“You have to take into account a lot of things. Today the market and the Argentine situation, too.

“The sale is very good economically. We know the conditions he has, but he’s only 18. You cannot put a €100m clause on the players like in Europe, who have high salaries. It’s not that easy.”