Who is Franco Mastantuono? Things to know about promising Argentine starlet
Since the golden era of 'La Maquina', River Plate has had a knack for producing majestic stars of their own.
The long-standing issues surrounding Argentinian football, which has been undermined by financial woe, violence, and corruption for decades, means the country's best rarely get to blossom in their homeland.
Europe represents an escape for Argentina's brightest, and River have lost out, but made plenty, on a litany of superstars. The great South American club has helped hone the talents of Hernan Crespo, Gonzalo Higuain, and Javier Mascherano, as well as Manchester City's Julian Alvarez and Chelsea's £107m man Enzo Fernandez, to name a mere few.
The next big thing is seemingly never too far away in River's academy, and the club's latest generation of starlets are garnering plenty of buzz. 16-year-old Franco Mastantuono is the latest to drown European transfer rumour mills after signing a lucrative contract extension with River.
Here's everything you need to know about the teenager.
The teenager has been on River Plate's books since 2019 having started his youth career at the age of three with local club River de Azul.
Mastantuono was born in Azul, located 300km south of Buenos Aires, and spent much of his youth with his local club before he signed for Club Cemento in 2018. His time there was brief, however, as one of Argentina's behemoths snooped and swooped. The youngster had previously rejected River's advances in order to pursue a tennis career.
After relinquishing his dream of becoming the next Juan Martin del Potro, Mastantuono has progressed through River's academy and at 16, is regarded as one of the club's brightest prospects. The teenage sensation became River's third youngest-ever player when he made his
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