Manchester City are poised to secure the signature of River Plate attacking midfielder Claudio Echeverri, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.
Writing in his Daily Briefing Substack column, Romano said that the teenager’s move to the Etihad is “almost done”, with the Premier League champions having started direct talks with River Plate:
“Manchester City are the big favourites and are advancing to the final stages of this story. They’re now negotiating directly with River Plate whom they have an excellent relationship with.”
It is believed that the Cityzens are negotiating a similar deal to the one they did for Julian Alvarez, with Echeverri staying at his current team for six months on loan before making the switch to England next summer.
City did have rivals for the midfielder
Barcelona were very interested in signing the 17-year-old but Financial Fair Play restrictions meant that the La Liga champions could not stump up the cash required for the player.
Romano has also confirmed that Premier League rivals Chelsea “made some contacts” to register their interest in Echeverri but City are the team who have made the most progress in negotiations in recent weeks.
How much will Echeverri cost?
It is believed that Echeverri has a €25m (£21.7m) release clause in his contract. That figure does rise to €30m (£26m) if he were to move in the final 10 days of the January transfer window but, as the deal looks set to be completed even before the end of December, City will only need to pay the lower amount.
It will be a big coup if City do confirm the signing of Echeverri. He was a standout player for Argentina at the Under 17 World Cup last month, and many believe that he has a very bright future in the game.
