Girona sporting director Quique Cárcel says Manchester City’s Claudio Echeverri was in favour of a move to Spain.
Cárcel has been discussing events that took place at Girona last summer, and Thursday’s edition of Sport relays his comments.
Girona were keen on signing the Manchester City man on loan before his temporary move to Bayer Leverkusen in August.
Manchester City are owned by the City Football Group, who also have a stake at the La Liga club. Over the past few years, the Citizens have sent multiple players on loan to Spain. Girona wanted to use these ties to secure Echeverri’s services.
The Premier League club signed the attacking midfielder from River Plate in January 2024 and let him stay in Argentina for the rest of that year. The 19-year-old arrived at the Etihad in January and played 64 minutes from three matches under Pep Guardiola.
Manchester City agreed to let him leave on loan and Girona wanted to sign him. According to their director, Echeverri’s agent wasn’t in favour of this operation.
“We wanted Echeverri because he’s a beast of a player, who scored in the Club World Cup,” he said.
“He wanted to play, get playing time, and compete in European competitions, but I think he wanted to come here, and it was his agent who looked for a different project profile, and we have to respect that.”
Echeverri has played five matches for the Bundesliga club so far.