Manchester City are reportedly looking to snatch a player out of Real Madrid’s clutches this summer.
The Manchester club have shown in previous years that they aren’t shy when it comes to signing young players from foreign sides.
A recent trend the Blues have been involved in is signing young Argentinian players from River Plate such as Julian Alvarez and Claudio Echeverri.
Having secured a deal for Alvarez, who was statistically one of City’s most improved players this season, back in the 2022 summer transfer window worth £14m, the striker has now completed two full seasons at the Etihad Stadium.
As for Echeverri, the Citizens landed a deal for the midfielder back in the previous winter transfer window but are not expected to see him join Alvarez at the club until January 2025.
Now that another summer transfer window has opened for business, some interesting behind-the-scenes details have come to light regarding another River Plate youngster City are looking to sign ahead of another one of Europe’s top clubs.
City plotting deal to sign Franco Mastantuono
- Man City transfer rumours: Every player linked to and from the Etihad in summer transfer window
A recent report from Diario Sport has claimed that while Real have agreed personal and financial terms with River Plate’s 16-year-old attacking-midfielder Franco Mastantuono, City and Pep Guardiola are looking to secure a deal for the youngster and scupper the Spanish club’s efforts to sign him.
The report also adds that the Citizens have been testing River Plate for weeks to try and sign the teenager, who has a release clause in his current contract worth €45m (£37m).
City could be getting their hands on another top young talent
Mastantuono, who has been described as a “world-class talent” by football talent scout Jacek Kulig on X, has made 18 appearances for his current club, scoring two goals and delivering one assist along the way.
Despite only appearing as a substitute in all five of River Plate’s games in the Primera Division this season, the youngster has still managed to rack up four shot-creating actions and one goal-creating action for his current side.
In our view, if the teenager has Real and City after him, he clearly must be a top talent or at least someone with the potential to become a star player in the future.
Moving forward, if the Blues feel that Mastantuono has what it takes to be an important player for them in the future, they should do all they can to stop Real from getting their hands on him.