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A significant advantage has been given to CHELSEA, Manchester City, and Barcelona in their efforts to sign Argentine sensation Claudio Echeverri.
17-year-old River Plate forward Echeverri garnered attention during a thrilling U17 South American Championship in April.
The adolescent, who plays as an age group player for Argentina, finished third in the competition with five goals and three assists in eight games.
He may now be on track to go to Europe, following in the footsteps of the renowned Argentine No. 10 Lionel Messi.
After he made it clear that he would not be signing a new deal with River Plate, that is.
“I’m not going to renew my contract at River Plate,” he declared to ESPN.
“I’m going to play for the next months and then we see what happens.”
Echeverri has a £21.6 million release clause, and his contract ends in December 2024.
In the last days of the January transfer window, this will rise to £26 million.
The Treble champions are eager to reach an agreement before returning the attacker to River for the balance of the season, thus they are leading the chase to sign the attacker.
This would be similar to the Julian Alvarez trade that River and Man City made the previous year.
Chelsea, though, is working hard to get his services as well.
Journalist Sarah Wieczorak of Sky Germany claims that Mauricio Pochettino’s team intends to sign the young player and then loan him to Strasbourg, who are also controlled by Todd Boehly, an American.
Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona, Juventus, Real Madrid, and other major teams are also keeping an eye on Echeverri.
River Plate has not yet received an official offer from Chelsea or Manchester City.