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Manchester City have completed the signing of highly rated Argentina under-23 midfielder Claudio Echeverri from River Plate, the club announced on Thursday.
The 18-year-old has penned a contract with the Premier League champions until June 2028 but will remain at River Plate until next January before moving to City. Sources have told ESPN the deal is worth around £12.5 million ($15.9m) plus add-ons
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– Have Man City gambled on Echeverri or signed a future star?
Echeverri, who sources told ESPN had also received interest from Barcelona, captained Argentina at the under 17 World Cup last year and starred in their run to the semfinals, where they lost on penalties to Germany.
He scored five goals in the U17 World Cup, including a hat trick against Brazil in the quarterfinal, and picked up the Bronze Ball prize as the tournament’s third highest scorer.
River handed Echeverri his first team debut in June last year and he made an immediate impact, providing an assist in a 3-1 win over Instituto. He has made six first-team appearances in total for the Argentine giants.
The deal City have agreed for Echeverri is similar to the arrangement that eventually brought Julián Álvarez to the Etihad.
Álvarez was signed from River Plate in January 2022 but remained in South America until the following summer. He made his Premier League debut in August 2022 and has gone on to win the Premier League title, FA Cup, Champions League, Super Cup and Club World Cup.
He was also part of the Argentina team that won the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Information from ESPN’s Rob Dawson contributed to this story.