Argentine youngster Claudio Echeverri is good enough to play for Manchester City’s first team now and not end up on loan elsewhere in the City Group.
That’s according to Manuel Lanzini, who has backed the youngster to make an instant impact at the Etihad in a similar vein to Julian Alvarez.
Echeverri is one of the rising stars of Argentinian football, having impressed for River Plate and crucially the Argentinian U17 side, who he shone for at the U17 World Cup back in November.
Those performances put him on the radar of the big clubs in Europe and Manchester City moved quickly to ensure it was they who won the race, with a deal agreed last month and expected to be finalised at some point in the coming weeks.
The deal is reminiscent of the one they agreed with River Plate two years ago for Julian Alvarez, which saw him sign in January 2022 but stay in Argentina for another six months until the beginning of last season.
The plan with him had been to initially send him out on loan to one of the other groups in the City Group network to gain experience in Europe but the striker managed to convince Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola and hasn’t looked back since.
Lanzini, who plays alongside Echeverri at River, sees the same happening with the winger and can’t see him heading out on loan either.
“El Diablito… everyone saw the quality he has,” he said.
“He is a very daring boy to play with. If City bought him, it is for a reason, like when Guardiola brought Julian.
“Some said he was too young, that he didn’t have the physical side, and you see him, and he plays and scores goals… I think that if they bought him, it is because they believe he is at the level for him to play there.”
