Following the path outlined by Julián Álvarez two seasons ago, Claudio Echeverri moves from River Plate in Argentina to Manchester City. The trip is similar, but the route is very different.
Álvarez was 22 when he made the move, an established international who was universally considered the best player in the Argentine top division. Echeverri, however, has barely played in it. He just turned 18 and his experience with River Plate's senior team is limited to a handful of appearances, mostly from the bench.
Unlike Álvarez, Echeverri is being hired almost exclusively for promise rather than achievements. But that's how the contemporary transfer market works.
The story of Álvarez, a very promising player who has time to establish a career in South America, is becoming increasingly rare. Europe's top clubs want to get their hands on the continent's youngsters as soon as possible, although youngsters cannot move before the age of 18, according to FIFA rules.
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It says a lot that Echeverri is probably only seen as the third best hope of his generation. The other two are even younger and both already know where they will be heading when they turn 18.
There's Brazilian striker Endrick, six months younger than Echeverri and a key figure in Palmeiras' recent domestic league victory, to the point where he has made a couple of substitute appearances for Brazil's senior team. Then there is the Ecuadorian Kendry Páez, a year and a half younger than Echeverri, and an established player in the Independiente del Valle first team who already scores and assists in World Cup qualifiers.
Endrick is destined for Real Madrid and Páez is heading to Chelsea. Which begs the question: do Manchester City really want Echeverri, or is he the next taxi off the line? With so many other big clubs interested in him, do City consider it worth making an investment of just over £20m?
Time, of course, will tell. Echeverri's promise is certainly enormous. There has been excitement about this player even before he left his home province of Chaco in northern Argentina to go south to Buenos Aires and join River Plate. And all the promise was evident in the recent U-17 World Cup, where Argentina reached the semi-finals, especially in the magnificent hat-trick he scored to eliminate Brazil.
For any young, slight-built Argentine attacking midfielder, the label of “the new Messi” is a tiresome inevitability. In Echeverri's case, everything collapses in the face of an early obstacle: he is right-handed. But still, there's a lot to be excited about.
Echeverri is full of slippery changes of pace and rhythm. He can create in the pocket behind the main striker or use his pace on the shoulder of the last defender, and he has a clear notion of which spaces to attack and how to damage the opponent.
And, from admittedly limited evidence, he does not seem intimidated by senior football. In a recent decisive match against Rosario Central, he was immediately in the center of the action when he was introduced for the last 25 minutes, demanding the ball and looking to set up the play.
We are pleased to announce that we have completed the signing of Claudio Echeverri from River Plate ✍️
Claudio signed a contract until June 2028, but will remain at River before moving to the Etihad Stadium in January next year.
More information ⤵️
– Manchester City (@ManCity) January 25, 2024
There's enough there to justify the nickname. The little devil (“The Little Devil”). It is more than a tribute to the Bolivian player of the 90s with almost exactly the same last name (Marco Etcheverry) who was nicknamed The Devil I“The devil”). In fact, Echeverri is smaller than the Bolivian original, but if he has better luck with injuries, he can torment defenders for longer.
So what happens next? River Plate hoped that City would let him stay for a while and, in fact, he will continue playing in Argentina for another year. His Premier League adventure will begin in January 2025. However, the dream scenario would be to retain him until mid-2025 so he can play for them in the inaugural expanded version of the Club World Cup. This seems unlikely.
River could use some of the other members of their youth team as leverage in a negotiation, but it would seem logical that City would want Echeverri to gain experience in Europe in the second half of next season. There could still be a loan to a sister club; The Argentine press speculates that Girona in Spain could be the most likely destination.
Loan deals can be problematic: a player used to being treated as something special may find it difficult to accept being sent to a club that may not have his long-term interests at heart. This model of the so-called child prodigy produces many victims, stories of careers that lose momentum and never fully regain their initial momentum.
Echeverri will have to be treated with care. The future of The little devil It's in the detail.
