River Plate confirm key detail of Claudio Echeverri's January transfer to Man City
Claudio Echeverri will spend a year on loan at River Plate after sealing his transfer to Manchester City, the Argentine club have confirmed.
City are expected to seal the 18-year-old's signature this month from the same club they signed Julian Alvarez from two years ago. In that deal, City paid £14m for Alvarez in January 2022 and allowed him to spend six months back on loan at River Plate until the beginning of City's 2022/23 pre-season.
The deal for Echeverri, who is younger than Alvarez was when he signed for City, will take a similar format, with River Plate confirming this week that the midfielder will remain with them for a year - until January 2025.
Man City have familiar Premier League headache in hunt for trophies
'He was a phenomenon' - Oscar Bobb, the 'Little Wizard' wowing Norway again with Man City rise
Speaking to SportCenter (via ESPN Deportes), sporting director Enzo Francescoli, confirmed that the transfer will go through, and that Echeverri will remain at River for 12 months as part of the arrangement.
Francescoli said: "He is very calm, I see him the same as last year. Obviously he must have his internal things. But he deserves it, he is a great boy. He is very well, with his feet on the ground beyond what happens to him at 18 years old, which is a lot. I spoke to him a couple of days ago. He is very well, calm."
Responding to frustrations from River fans that the club did not extend Echeverri's contract, the director addressed the criticisms but admitted his club were essentially powerless in keeping the midfielder due to the economic realities of South American football.
"I understand. People get impatient and don't know how things happen. There is no longer an ideal world as always imagined," he
Read on manchestereveningnews.co.uk
