AC Milan directors Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara hosted River Plate president Jorge Pablo Brito at Casa Milan the other day, and it is likely that they spoke about one of the Argentine club’s top talents.
Calciomercato.com describes it as an ‘institutional lunch’ but adds that the parties ended up talking about Claudio Echeverri, who has been labelled ‘the real new Messi’. In addition to talks with Milan, there is strong interest in the boy from Real Madrid.
Florentino Perez has even drawn up a plan for Echeverri, which involves him spending another year on loan at River Plate until he comes becomes 18, then moving to Spain where he would play with Real Madrid Castilla, which is their youth teams.
Perez has had to chance because for now Echeverri has no intention of leaving his favourite team for the time being. He can play as an attacking midfielder or as a second striker, while he is proficient in scoring and creating for his team-mates.
Despite being physically small in stature, he carries the ball well and can hold off opponents, with the ball always attached to his foot. He has a release clause of €25m which River are aiming to double as soon as possible.
It was at the age of 11 he had his first trial with Los Millonarios and passed it. In that same year he left Argentina for the first time and arrived in Italy to play in the Venice Champions Trophy, a 7-a-side football tournament for the best clubs in the world.
Echeverri dominated and, despite his team finishing ‘only’ third, he takes all the headlines. He scored four goals in one game against Juve, with nine scored in total in the six games played. That is where the ‘El Diablito’ (Little Devil) nickname began.
Despite a vertebra fracture in 2022 – an injury that kept him on the sidelines for a few months – he took part in the South American Under 17 champions with his native Argentina a few weeks ago.
He scored five goals (including a spectacular one against Peru) and amassed three assists in eight games as a captain and with the No.10 shirt. Whether at Milan, Real Madrid or any other club, Echeverri’s future is bright.
