Claudio Echeverri has been one of the most talked out young players in world football at the moment. He is off the back of an excellent U17 World Cup with Argentina, and earlier this week, he admitted that he intends to leave River Plate when his contract comes to an end in December 2024.
Barcelona are one of many clubs interested in Echeverri, and with the possibility of him being available on a cut-price deal appealing greatly to club bosses, the expectation is that they will make a move at some stage in 2024. However, they may not get the chance if reports are to be believed.
According to Gianluigi Longari, Manchester City – fresh off the back of winning the Club World Cup on Friday – are preparing to trigger Echeverri’s release clause at River, which is worth €25m. Barcelona are unprepared to do so, and would prefer to sign him for a reduced fee next summer.
🚨 JUST IN: Manchester City are ready to pay Echeverri's €25m release clause, but the Argentine prefers Barcelona, whose strategy is to wait until the summer to pay less. @Glongari 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/c0Tj12lViu
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) December 23, 2023
The advantage that Barcelona have is that Echeverri would prefer to join them, and this could be significant over the coming months. For now, it remains to be seen whether negotiations take place in 2024.
