Manchester City are to welcome Claudio Echeverri to the club in 2025 – and Martin Demichelis hailed the youngster after he scored his first ever goal for River Plate on Sunday.
City completed a deal for the Argentine starlet in January, but have left him at River for the time being so that he can develop his game.
It is a move that mirrors what the club did with Julian Alvarez, who benefitted immensely from staying put before moving to the Etihad in the summer of 2022.
At the weekend, Echeverri made headlines by scoring his firs senior goal.
It was a brilliant strike, and one that caught the eye of City legend Sergio Aguero, who shared a clip of it on X.
After the game, City’s starlet came in for praise from manager Martin Demichelis…
Martin Demichelis full of pride for incoming Man City starlet Claudio Echeverri after first goal for River
Echeverri had not scored for River Plate before Sunday’s game with Gimnasia.
Given the amazing quality of the finish, it’s possible he won’t score too many better ones in his career. It was certainly something right out of the Aguero catalogue the way he shifted it and lashed it in at the near post.
City appear to be bringing a serious talent to the club in Echeverri.
After the game, River Plate manager Martin Demichelis – who made 106 appearances for City between 2013 and 2016 – couldn’t hide his pride over Echeverri.
He said (via ESPN Argentina): “Surely the family was the one who helped him the most. In the moments when he is with us, we want him to be happy and his way to be happy is to train with the ball, having fun, thanks to that he became a professional player.
“I’m glad he was able to score and even more so here at the Monumental, he ended up kissing the shirt. He came when he was eight years old, you have to come at eight years old from far away. Let’s value the effort of a boy and a family that invested a lot of effort, sacrifice, tears. The uprooting must not have been easy. Today it pays off, he left a great sale to the club, hopefully it will help us have a great 2024”.
Echeverri looks a very exciting prospect and is in good hands
What a goal this was from Echeverri, who looks to be a serious young talent.
It is going to be really interesting to see how he develops between now and January 2025 when he joins up with the City first-team squad.
No doubt the club will be watching their £12.5 million signing’s every move at River now that he has officially been signed, and hopefully Demichelis can prepare him in the best possible way.
Demichelis obviously spent a few years in English football playing with City, and is, therefore, a very good person for Echeverri to be working with and learning from.