It’s been a relatively quiet January transfer window across the board, as it can often be for many teams, but Manchester City has completed another bit of exciting business as they officially announced the signing of so-called ‘wonderkid’ Claudio Echeverri — but who is he?
The 18-year-old attacking midfielder’s move from Argentine giants River Plate was confirmed on Thursday, 25 January, with Man City confirming that he will be loaned straight back to the club until this time next year.
Operating as an attacking midfielder, it’s fair to say that not only do the Blues have plenty of stars that play in the position but any new signing, no matter how senior, would struggle to find their way into that well-oiled machined.
Being given a contract until 2028 on a deal worth around £12.5 million plus add-ons despite only just turning 18, it’s fair to say City are putting a lot of faith in the highly-promising prospect but why exactly is he being so highly thought of at such a young age?
We are pleased to announce we have completed the signing of Claudio Echeverri from River Plate ✍️
Claudio has signed a contract until June 2028 but will remain at River before moving to the Etihad Stadium in January next year.
For starters, it’s worth noting that some of his closest admirers have dubbed him ‘the next Lionel Messi‘, and not just because he’s young and a fellow compatriot.
Playing in an advanced role and predominantly as a classic number 10, the parallels are obvious and given his calmness and composure in front of goal, it didn’t take long for fans and pundits to turn the marriage of nationality, position, goalscoring and a fair amount of skill into the excitable comparison.
With a penchant for dribbling and having already captained Argentina’s youth side to the semi-finals of the U17 World Cup late last year, he’s already had a taster of having the weight of a nation’s hopes on his shoulders in some capacity. That’s the kind of character that should take to the Premier League well.
Scoring nine in six across the tournament, he bagged a hattrick in the quarters against Brazil before they lost on penalties to Germany, earning himself the chance to train with the first-team squad on a number of occasions.
At club level, despite only making six senior appearances for River Plate, he’s already won two trophies with them — the Argentine Primera Division and the Trofeo de Campeones — registering an assist within just four cameo appearances coming off the bench.
Speaking to Sky Sports, South American football expert Tim Vickery, made another key comparison, stating that “Echeverri is taking a similar path as Julián Álvarez: River Plate and Argentina to Manchester City and England – but with significant differences.
“Alvarez went at the age of 22 as a consolidated Argentina international and as the best player in Argentine football.
“Echeverri has only just turned 18 and we’ve hardly seen him in senior Argentine football. Just six games with most of those off the substitutes’ bench. It’s the same journey but with a very different route map.”
Going on to caveat that although dubbing him the next Messi might be getting carried away at this stage, he did insist that the youngster’s “promise is huge”, highlighting his “real pace and changes of pace, changes of rhythm, real knowledge of where to hurt the opposition and attacking space”, in particular.
The consensus seems to be that he’s Claudio Echeverri is definitely one of the future and potentially a talent to build around in the long term and, thankfully, his loan move straight back to his previous club will allow him to keep playing more regular football just as Álvarez did before arriving at the Etihad.
With Kalvin Phillips having just been loaned to West Ham from City in search of minutes after missing valuable months due to being simply kept out by such a wealth of talent in the middle of the park, Pep Guardiola and his staff certainly won’t want to risk a similar situation.
One thing’s for sure, he’s definitely one to keep an eye on.
Featured Images — Man City/Claudio Echeverri/Argentine National Team (via Instagram)
Sport
Southampton youngster bids goodbye to boyhood club ahead of Manchester United move
Danny Jones
Southampton FC youngster, Harley Emsden-James, has bid goodbye to his boyhood club ahead of an imminent move to Manchester United.
The promising 16-year-old defender, who has already impressed plenty of youth scouts in the under-18s Premier League, is set to become Man United’s latest summer signing, making that four so far.
Identified not just by the Red Devils recruitment team but tipped for big things by their new Director of Football, Jason Wilcox – who was with the Saints before arriving at Old Trafford – he’s clearly thought of very highly already.
Posting on Instagram over the weekend, the Southampton-born centre-back shared images of himself as an even younger boy (joining the academy at age 7) along with a heartfelt farewell message.
As you can see, the caption touches upon almost a decade with the club, writing, “I’m incredibly grateful for all the memories made and the amazing people I’ve met throughout the journey.”
He goes on to add: “A huge thank you to all the staff who have supported and guided me over the years, to my teammates who’ve become friends, and to everyone who’s been a part of this chapter with me.
“Southampton will always hold a special place in my heart. On to the next chapter!”
Currently signed to Puma, the England prospect’s move to Manchester was confirmed by Fabrizio Romano back in June, and there seems to be an understanding that Wilcox knows him well already.
United are reported to have paid around £1 million for the young Southampton defender’s signature, fighting off other suitors, including Man City, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Spurs and more.
Having recently shifted appointments in the INEOS administration, initially being appointed as Technical Director back in April 2024, the previous Premier League winner and coach, now looks to be spearheading MUFC’s transfer business and a big chunk of the youth development.
Some clips of Harley Emsden-James (09) from 🏴U15 vs 🇺🇸 a few months back Righty CB made his U18 PL debut for Southampton yesterday Relatively physically advanced of which he imposes well in his age-group. Brilliant composure w ball-at-feet – prominent+strategic passing eye pic.twitter.com/ugE5fXBxBW
Although the belief is that Emsden-James will be dropped directly into Man United’s U18s PL squad, rather than be blooded into the first team, there is an expectation that he will feature as part of Ruben Amorim’s first pre-season tour, so he will benefit from training with more senior figures at the very least.
On the other hand, along with the likes of fellow new arrival and defensive partner, Diego León, we wouldn’t be too surprised if you see them given minutes amid issues with squad depth, injuries and not quite as much transfer activity as many may have hoped for.
Looks like United may once again be putting that old ‘you can’t win anything with kids’ adage to the test.
Gymshark is opening its first standalone northern store in Manchester this weekend
Emily Sergeant
A huge new Gymshark store is opening in Manchester tomorrow, and it’s the brand’s first standalone store in the North.
The global sportswear and fitness brand will be setting up shop at the Trafford Centre and taking over a large 7,500 ft space on Upper Peel Avenue with all of its iconic Gymshark ranges, including the massively ‘Vital’ and ‘Power’ collections, as well as some exciting new exclusives for Gymshark Trafford Centre.
The store itself is said to have Gymshark’s ‘increasingly trademark’ look and feel throughout it, including mannequins that are created from the image of real people in the community, different destinations for its hero products, and spacious changing rooms with bespoke lighting.
Unfamiliar with Gymshark? Since it was founded by Ben Francis from his garage in 2012, the brand has gone on to become one of the UK’s greatest business success stories of the 21st century – with more than 20 million people across 200 countries now counting themselves as members of the Gymshark community.
Gymshark is opening its first standalone northern store in Manchester this weekend / Credit: Supplied
The new Trafford Centre will be Gymshark’s first standalone store in the UK outside of London, and follows recent openings in Dubai and Amsterdam, as well as coming ahead of the opening of Gymshark’s first flagship store in the US later this year.
Most importantly, it builds on the brand’s long association with Manchester, as one of the first-ever Gymshark meet-ups was in the city, as well as its first ‘Lift’ event post-COVID.
Gymshark also credits the public’s reception to its space inside Selfridges at the Trafford Centre as one of the driving forces behind its choice to open a permanent store within the shopping centre, calling it ‘nothing short of spectacular’ and adding that the new opening genuinely solidifies Manchester’s role as a ‘big brother’ to a Brummie brand.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Gymshark’s first Northern store to Trafford Centre this weekend, joining our growing athleisure and sportswear offering at the centre,” commented Simon Layton, who is the Centre Director at Trafford Centre.
“We have no doubt that Gymshark will prove immensely popular and can’t wait to welcome them on opening day.”
Gymshark is opening at the Trafford Centre tomorrow (Saturday 12 July) with a grand ribbon cutting at 10am, followed by goody bags, refreshments, and merch being handed out for those waiting in line.
There’ll also be different fitness challenges to take part in too, in true Gymshark spirit.
Danny Jones -
26th January 2024 
