River and Manchester City close the sale of Diablito Echeverri: only the signature is missing

The sale of River’s Diablito Echeverri to the Manchester City is practically closed. The figure, between fixed and variable sums, would exceed 25 million euros, i.e. the amount of the release clause and the player will remain on loan at Núñez until December 2024, therefore, as announced Clarionwill be able to play next year’s Copa Libertadores in full.

Echeverri will remain on loan at River for 365 days. And in January 2025 he will go to Manchester City. They will therefore be able to play the 2024 Libertadores and, if the Millonario team is champion, they will be champion in the Intercontinental, which will be played in December next year. These data are also reflected in the English newspaper The Guardianwhich in its Wednesday edition referred to the youth operation.

This way, Diablitogate ended after nearly a week of madness after his explosive statements. “I won’t renew it,” Echeverri said at the Madre de Cities in Santiago del Estero after Martín Demichelis’ team won the Champions Trophy by beating Rosario Central 2-0. River world.

Her relationship with the millionaire ended in December 2024. And although there will be no renewal, at one point it was feared that the footballer, “instigated by his representative”, would leave without leaving a penny in the club. But they immediately denied it. “It was never the plan to break free“Enzo Montepaone, Echeverri’s agent, assures this newspaper.

River intended to sign the renewal and raise the release clause to 50 million of euros, something that he has not been able to achieve in recent times and even less after the footballer broke it at the Under 17 World Cup in Indonesia with the Argentine national team of his category, led by Diego Placente. He scored three goals against Brazil before the eyes of talent scouts around the world.

City had already followed him. And he contacted not only River, but also Echeverri’s family. You have fresh euros and financial solvency to make the transfer. They will give the player a 6 year contract. He will complete his training in Núñez and from the beginning of 2025 will be under the orders of Pep Guardiola. AND He will be Julián Álvarez’s partnerclear.

In this way, the turbulence generated by the young 17-year-old’s declarations has stopped (he will turn 18 on January 2), and staying another year gives peace of mind to Martín Demichelis, who counts on Echeverri as a fundamental piece of his team, ahead of an important year , in which River will once again aim all its weapons against the Copa Libertadores. And Diablito can give you the freshness your team needs. He demonstrated this on Friday in the final of the Champions Trophy, in which he played as a starter, in the hook position and played an amazing half hour.

“It will be here throughout 2024”, a senior River manager told Clarín on Tuesday. And that ends on Wednesday, a senior club official said.

This situation will also bring tranquility to Echeverri itself, a symbol of the renewal that will come to the River. After the explosion caused by his words and the anguish they caused him, El Diablito spent Christmas in Chaco with his family and appeared smiling in a photo that he published on his social networks.

With the possibility of staying in 2024, El Diablito will be able to recompose through his gestures on the playing field the discomfort that his statements have generated among the fans.that they were the product of innocence, since when he realized what he had said, the young man did not stop crying and showing regret.

Of the total sale, which, as mentioned, will exceed 25 million euros, River will remain 85%, since that is the percentage of the token that belongs to it while The remaining 15% corresponds to Deportivo Luján of Resistencia, the club where he founded Diablito.

It’s a method that City has applied in recent times, with very young players. For example with the Brazilian Gabriel Jesús, who in 2016, at the age of 19, was signed by the Manchester club and left on loan to Palmeiras for 6 months.

The same thing happened with Julian Alvarez, who was bought by City at the beginning of 2022 and six months later went to England to join the team led by Pep Guardiola and begin a path of glory, in which In a year and a half he won the Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League and Club World Cup and he was also world champion with the Argentine national team.

With good pre-existing relations between River and the City Group, following Álvarez’s transfer, the parties had entered a final stage of negotiations which led to a formal offer and an agreement signed on Wednesday. Echeverri remained in the red shirt for another year and then went to Manchester City, the last champion of the Champions League and Club World Cup. The best team in the world, currently.