Manchester City transfer plans for Claudio Echeverri suffer severe blow: report

Claudio Echeverri, who signed for Manchester City in January, celebrates a goal for River Plate against Nacional in the Copa Libertadores in April 2024.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Manchester City will need a rethink in their roadmap for Argentine sensation Claudio Echeverri after their original plans for the River Plate sensation hit a setback.

City signed Echeverri from River in the winter window, but the 18-year-old attacker is staying on loan with the Buenos Aires club until January 2025.

After that, the Premier League champions had hoped to send the forward to Girona in another loan deal, but such a move now appears impossible.

Manchester City's January signing Claudio Echeverri in action for Argentina at the Under-17 World Cup.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

According to The Mirror, Girona's qualification for the Champions League has complicated matters, with UEFA rules preventing clubs in the continental competition with the same owner from completing loan deals.

Girona sealed Champions League qualification to the Champions League last weekend following an impressive win over Barcelona. The Catalan club are owned by the City Football Group.

Manchester City will now need to come up with another plan for the young Argentine forward, who has been billed as the nation's next big star following his impressive performances for River Plate.

Echeverri alerted the attention of a number of Europe's elite clubs last year, with his strong showings in the Under-17 World Cup.

The young forward netted a hat-trick against Brazil and scored five goals overall as Argentina made it to the semi-finals.

He has also played for Argentina's Under-23 team, but is yet to appear for the senior side.

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Ben Hayward
Weekend editor

Ben Hayward is a European football writer and Tottenham Hotspur fan with over 15 years’ experience, he has covered games all over the world - including three World Cups, several Champions League finals, Euros, Copa America - and has spent much of that time in Spain. Ben speaks English and Spanish, currently dividing his time between Barcelona and London, covering all the big talking points of the weekend on FFT: he’s also written several list features and interviewed Guglielmo Vicario for the magazine.