Manchester City confirmed the signing of Claudio Echeverri for a reported fee of £12.5m plus add-ons
It is very clear that, in 2025, Manchester City’s objective is to overhaul their squad by bringing in an array of young players.
Already in January, the Citizens have spent over £125m to recruit Abdukodir Khusanov (20), Omar Marmoush (25), Vitor Reis (19) and Juma Bah (18), as Pep Guardiola seeks to refresh his team.
Marmoush-Man-City
However, could it be a youngster that Man City actually signed last January who proves to be the best value business of all?
Manchester City’s highly-rated Argentine youngster
A year ago, Manchester City confirmed the signing of Claudio Echeverri for a reported fee of £12.5m plus add-ons.
As noted by Sam Lee of the Athletic, the teenager signed a contract until 2028, but would spend the remainder of 2024 back on loan at River Plate.
Well, that 12-month loan is now over, but Echeverri is currently in Venezuela competing at the South American U-20 Championship, scoring during a 6-0 demolition of Brazil and then against Colombia, as Argentina seek to win the competition for the sixth time.
La Albiceleste have reached the competition’s final stage, which does not conclude until 16 February, but it will be interesting to see if Echeverri is included in Man City’s Premier League and Champions League squads, thereby allowing him to feature upon his return.
So, who is Echeverri?
Well, data analyst Ben Mattinson describes the 19-year-old as a “future superstar”, praising his “ball-carrying and dribbling prowess”, adding that Man City have got themselves an “absolute bargain”.
Eccheverri-Man-City-Premier-League
Meantime, António Mango believes he is a “dribbling menace” while, according to Pro Future Stars, Echeverri is the third-best “infiltrating midfielder” under the age of 21 in world football, as per CIES powered by Wyscout.
Thus, in short, Man City supporters should be excited.
How Echeverri compares to past Man City stars
Of course, Man City have recent history when it comes to buying River Plate stars.
Julián Álvarez was signed for £14m in January 2022, with the Argentine scoring 36 goals in 103 outings for the Sky Blues, winning six major honours, before being sold to Atlético Madrid for a humongous £81m last summer, representing a huge profit.
julian-alvarez-manchester-city-tottenham-hotspur-academy-postecoglou-mikey-moore
So, let’s compare how Álvarez and Echeverri performed at the Argentine giants, before making the move to Manchester.
Claudio Echeverri vs Julián Álvarez at River Plate comparison
Statistics
Claudio Echeverri
Julián Álvarez
Appearances
48
122
Starts
29
81
Minutes
2,499
7,953
Age of departure
19-years-old
22-years-old
Goals
4
54
Assists
8
31
Shots on target %
36.3%
47.4%
As outlined in the table above, Echeverri and Álvarez were at very different stages in their development by the time they arrived at Man City.
Álvarez, at 22 years old, won five major honours, including the Copa Libertadores, also already accumulating six senior competitive international caps before making the move.
In contrast, Echeverri has made less than 50 senior appearances for River Plate and is still only a youth international, thereby unlikely to make an immediate impact as Álvarez did, scoring on his debut in the FA Community Shield against Liverpool.
Echeverri-Man-City-River-Plate
Writing in the Guardian’s Next Generation series for 2023, Juan Carlos Pasman labels the teenager “a classic number 10”, praising his “excellent close control, dribbling skills and… exceptional first touch”.
Echeverri is nicknamed “El Diablito”, which translates to the little devil, a homage to former Bolivian striker Marco Etcheverry, which gives you some idea of his playing style.
At the weekend, Guardiola deployed Marmoush in a quasi-number ten role, in-behind Erling Haaland, with Graham Ruthven of Total Soccer Show noting that the Norwegian looked much better with a secondary forward closer to him.
Thus, this very much could be a role that Echeverri would thrive in whenever he arrives in Manchester, with the Argentine set to be the next young superstar at Man City. Marmoush, then, isn’t the only reason for City supporters to be excited…
Manchester-City-Declan-Rice
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