Who is Claudio Echeverri? Manchester City's new signing

Name                :  Claudio Jeremías Echeverri

D.O.B.                :  2 January 2006 (age 18)

Birthplace.       :  Resistencia, Chaco, Argentina

Height.             :  1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)

Position(s)      :  Attacking midfielder, left winger

Current Team :  River Plate (On loan from.  Manchester City)

Shirt Number  : No.19

Preferred foot : Right

Overview

The then 17 year old diminutive attack minded midfielder who can also play out wide on the left wing, yet another prospect who has been burdened  with the label of being the next Messi came into mainstream prominence after bagging a hattrick against Brazil in the 2023 U-17 World Cup Quarter Final. 

But truth be told , he has been making waves way before as he had already arrived at the scene at the tender age of 11 . Echeverri stood out like a sour thumb at a seven-a-side youth tournament held in Venice against the likes of Atletico Madrid, Ajax, Juventus and Chelsea.

He managed to score four against Juventus and ended the tournament with nine goals in six games, earning praise for his winning mentality by expressing his dissatisfaction with River finishing third in the tournament. It is the kind of Elite mentality that separates a great talent from a champion player and will hold the youngster in good stead  for his long career ahead.

And the only way for him from there was up as in October 2022, he made his debut for River’s reserves at the age of 16 and scored against Patronato. Claudio signed his first professional contract a few weeks later and has been in and around the first team having made 6 first team appearances to date. 

After signing for the Sky Blues he has been loaned back to River Plate for an an year before he heads back to Manchester in January 2025 so that he can continue his development in his native homeland. And hopefully , just like his compatriot Julian Alvarez had done before, he could also hope to potentially follow into his footsteps and we can see both of them linking together for the Blues in the very near future.

Playing Style

An Attacking Midfielder, who possesses excellent technical ability especially 1v1, close control and sudden changes in direction while dribbling. Even though his game is more technical in nature, Claudio isn't shy getting himself into physical battles which is good news for fans waiting for him to be in the PL matchday squad.

He is best suited being the main man behind the main striker pulling the strings and dishing out through balls and creating chances for his more attack minded mates to capitalise preferring to operate from the hole and drifting in and around empty spaces to wreck havoc for the opposition.

A player, who attacking coaches would love to have on their team as he is always on the lookout on progressing the vertically with his progressive passes forward especially excelling on the left wing and the half space.

He is your typical attacking midfielder who tries to unlock defences by finding creative solutions, passes that no one else can see, resistant to press as if he is playing in slow motion. He is also a threat in set pieces and penalties but mostly favours his right foot and often gets fouled which means he is prone to Injuries.

Conclusion

All in all there are very high hopes from this young lad nicknamed  El Diablito and the comparisons with legends like Pablo Aimar , Riquelme, Messi have already started but despite immense promise, he has a long way to go to convert that promise into a great finish.

Cover Credits - FIFA