Claudio Echeverri caught the eye for Manchester City in the Club World Cup.
Claudio Echeverri of Manchester City celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group G match between City and Al Ain
Claudio Echeverri celebrates his goal for Manchester City against Al Ain in the Club World Cup
Try telling Claudio Echeverri that the Club World Cup doesn't matter.
Days after Lionel Messi curled in a free kick in the competition, his compatriot did the same to get off the mark in Manchester City colours.
It was a wonderful striker from the Argentine, even if the Al Ain wall was fragile and the goalkeeping suspect.
Not that Echeverri will care about that. He beamed as he ran off to celebrate, soaking up the Atlanta applause.
The 19-year-old's goal was the highlight of the first half in Georgia with City dominant against spirited but limited opponents. Echeverri started as part of a front three, playing almost as an inside left.
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It was a system that helped bring Rayan Ait-Nouri forward from left back on his City debut, with Echeverri drifting inside to allow his new teammate space to roam on the flank.
He overcame an early knock, which at one stage looked like it might curtail his evening prematurely, but the youngster shook off the issue after treatment and continued. That showed a toughness even if his half-time withdrawal was impacted by the knock.
Guardiola was fulsome in his praise of the teenager after the game, highlighting his work ethic and ability in an answer that felt telling as to why the Argentine is very much in the first team picture.
"Since he arrived and [in] the three or four months with us, at the end of training sessions he was practising free-kicks with the goalkeeper, wall and alone," the City boss said.
"The other ones did not practise. He was practising and practising and the work pays off. Fantastic goal and incredible player."
Echeverri was a surprise inclusion in the FA Cup final squad in May, and an even more surprise introduction off the bench as City chased the contest. He also came on for the final game of the campaign at Fulham, but the general consensus is that the 2025-26 season would yield a loan exit to allow him regular game time and the space to develop away from a currently crowded City squad.
That still might be the case, but against Al Ain the teenager once again showed his talent and ability and might just have provided food for thought as to what comes next.
City and Echeverri will face much tougher tests than Al Ain in the coming weeks and months, starting with Juventus on Thursday. But the young star did his chances no harm with his performance.