Franco Mastantuono, after his emergence in the Under 17 World Cup with Argentina and standing out in the First Division of Argentine football with the River Plate shirt at just 16 years old, he became the great objective of the main clubs in Europe. After it came to light that the young man would have a salary agreement with Real Madrid, the newspaper Sport warns of an intrusion that could completely change the equation: Pep Guardiola.
According to the aforementioned media, Manchester City, which had been testing the millionaire cast for weeks, decided to go all out for the midfielder with “the intention to carry out an express operation”.
“In the case of the English champion the tactic is different from that of Madrid because they are betting on reaching a transfer agreement between clubs. And it is already known that if there is a European entity that has a direct line with the Millonario board, it is, without a doubt, Manchester City, thanks to the magnificent work carried out by its team of collaborators established in Buenos Aires,” the newspaper noted.
In recent times, the Ciudadanos have generated a great bond with River Plate. First it was with the signing of Julián Álvarez, who ended up in England in 2022 for 21.5 million euros plus variables. The deal with the forward, who would later be crowned world champion in Qatar 2022, gave benefits to City, since the Spider is an important piece for the first team’s offense and his price skyrocketed.
The most recent was in January of this year, when they completed the purchase of Claudio Echeverri, after being one of the main stars of the last Under 17 World Cup. El Diablito was bought for 18.5 million euros and will remain in Núñez until the end of the year, and then make the leap to the Old Continent.
Manchester City’s idea, at the request of Spanish technical director Pep Guardiola, is to negotiate directly with the club in order to win the battle against Real Madrid.
The Catalan newspaper maintains that negotiations between the White House and the footballer’s entourage began at the beginning of May. Initially, Juni Calafat, head of scouting for the Spanish club, traveled to Buenos Aires to discuss terms. Subsequently, José Ángel Sánchez, general director of the club and right-hand man of Florentino Pérez, held several meetings with the leaders of River Plate.
It is worth noting that the price of the transfer has yet to be defined (a formula could be to pay a greater amount than the clause – in that case the entire amount must be paid in a single payment – through some bonuses), as well as whether Mastantuono will join the European team that acquires him in August 2025, when he turns 18, or if he will remain in Martín Demichelis’ team for longer. It is worth noting that the young Argentine, having a European passport, could arrive before reaching the age of majority.
“We would like to enjoy it for a long time. Afterwards, contracts are there to be fulfilled, and termination clauses are part of the contracts. That will no longer depend on us. Players are people who can love and generally love institutions, but they have freedom of action, which is why termination clauses exist. Here and in all countries of the world. It is not something that is within our power to prevent them if they want to be transferred elsewhere. The clauses are precisely there for that,” one of River Plate’s main leaders confided to Infobae when asked about the future of the promising midfielder.
In March of this year, El Millonario signed a new contract with Mastantuono: a contract until December 2026 and the highest termination clause in Argentine football (45 million euros, an amount that rises to 50, when there are 10 business days left for the contract. closing of the transfer market).
