Manchester City starlet Claudio Echeverri is hoping to end his disappointing loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen and re-join River Plate to get his career back on track, it has been claimed.
According to Argentine journalist Renzo Pantich, Echeverri ‘wants return to River Plate’ and has told his camp to ‘exert pressure’ for such a move. The attacking midfielder is ‘unhappy with his limited playing time at Leverkusen’, particularly after he was left on the bench in the DFB-Pokal win over second-tier side Paderborn on Wednesday.
Echeverri has managed just one assist in six matches so far and has yet to score for Leverkusen. Just one of his appearances has lasted 45 minutes or more, while he has been left on the bench in Leverkusen’s last four Bundesliga games.
The problems for Claudio Echeverri at Leverkusen
Echeverri joined Leverkusen at a bad time, with Erik ten Hag sacked just three games in
Kasper Hjulmand, Ten Hag’s replacement, doesn’t seem to trust the City loanee
Fellow No 10s Jonas Hofmann, Ernest Poku and Malik Tillman have impressed
Leverkusen’s form under Hjulmand has improved, but Echeverri has had to watch from the sidelines.
Pantich adds that River Plate’s directors ‘weren’t expecting’ the 19-year-old to want to return so soon, with his transfer decision being a ‘surprise’. So far, River Plate ‘haven’t taken any action’, though that could soon change.
Echeverri is hopeful Man City and Leverkusen will mutually agree to terminate his loan spell, allowing him to secure a different, more fruitful move in January.
City are highly likely to agree to this as they will want to ensure Echeverri’s exciting development continues.
Echeverri supposedly wants to head back to his home country of Argentina, where he feels most comfortable and can thrive once again. City, though, would prefer he joins another European club so he can learn at the highest level.
Spanish and Italian clubs could return for Echeverri and reopen talks. He was linked with City’s affiliate side Girona in March.
And in August, our transfer correspondent Fraser Fletcher revealed Roma were accelerating discussions for him, before they ultimately missed out to Leverkusen.
Last week, Echeverri made our list of five loans which must quickly be cancelled.
It is tough to verify exactly how reliable Pantich is, though the reporter – who specialises in news on River Plate – does have a relatively big following. He has just under 90,000 followers on YouTube, 63k on Instagram and a further 47k on X, formerly Twitter.
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Will Echeverri ever make it at City?
Pep Guardiola sees Echeverri as a hugely talented young player who could follow in the footsteps of Julian Alvarez by making a big impact for City.
Although, Echeverri will have to put in some superb performances in training to get into City’s starting eleven one day, as competition for places is fierce.
Phil Foden, the 2023-24 Premier League player of the year, is looking to get back to his best after an underwhelming season last term.
Rayan Cherki is back fit and put in a ‘scintillating’ display during the League Cup win over Swansea, registering a goal and assist.
Omar Marmoush can also play in the No 10 role, and he is a threat in any game.