Manchester City seem to have developed a penchant for the South American market.
The Citizens acquired Julian Alvarez from River Plate in January 2022 before signing Maximo Perrone from Velez Sarsfield 12 months later.
And now they look set to recruit from Argentina for the third successive year, with River Plate’s Claudio Echeverri next off the conveyor belt to join the Etihad after the two clubs reportedly agreed a deal worth £22M.
Echeverri, River’s crown jewel, is the latest prospect to graduate from the prestigious El Semillero – the venerated talent factory that has previously moulded the likes of Alvarez, Enzo Fernandez and Hernan Crespo.
The attacking midfielder, 17, has espoused the sobriquet ‘El Diablito’ (the little devil) for his devilish dribbling and searing pace. Aided by his quicksilver movement and balletic feet, he plays with a certain temerity evocative of Pablo Aimar, one of River’s greatest-ever players and now the assistant manager to Lionel Scaloni for Argentina.
On who he models his game on, Echeverri said: "I really like Pablo Aimar, who’s part of the national team staff, and he’s spoken to me many times. He’s a great person, and he gives me useful pointers about what I need to correct in my game. I’d probably say ‘Pablito’, then – he was a talented player and loved to take on defenders like me.”
“I think it could be my speed because I'm very fast,” he added when asked about his biggest strength. “I try to get on the ball quickly and I immediately get forward.”
El Diablito quickly outgrew River’s reserves after a series of coruscating displays and was duly rewarded with his first professional contract in December 2022 before Martin Demichelis, the River manager, promoted him to the first team in June.
-
Argentina's fulcrum
The Chaco-born teenager only made six senior appearances for River but it was his performances for Argentina's youth ranks that caught the eye of Pep Guardiola.
Like Vinicius Jr in 2017, he burst onto the scene at the Under-17 CONMEBOL Sudamericana, quickly becoming Diego Placente's fulcrum.
Named as La Albiceleste's captain, Echeverri scored five and claimed three assists in eight games, winning the competition's Golden Boot.
River's virtuoso was voted the third-best player at the Under-17 World Cup in December, netting five in seven games, the hat-trick against arch-rivals Brazil in the quarter-final being his tournament zenith.
He finished as the competition's second-top goalscorer behind teammate Agustin Roberto.
"The boy is a talent," Barcelona manager Xavi said speaking about Echeverri's ability. "Beyond the hat-trick he scored against Brazil, he's a difference-maker. But it's something for the scouting department."
As is often the case with South Americans, he has not hid his desire to play for Barcelona, seeing Lionel Messi as his lodestar.
Like Messi, he is known in Argentina as 'La Pulga' (the flea) - an epithet given to diminutive, fleet-footed attackers with a low centre of gravity.
He said: "I’m a big fan of Messi and I used to watch him play for Barcelona, so I’ve had this team inside me since I was very young."
Prior to the Under-17 World Cup he was invited to train alongside Messi and the rest of Argentina's World Cup-winning squad.
"You can see he's got some fire in him. He's got a lot to give," Angel Di Maria said on the teenager.
The little devil certainly has fire. And under the guidance of Guardiola he could be unstoppable.
