While Manchester United continue to falter on the Premier League stage, some exciting developments away from the pitch are at least keeping hopes of a brighter future under Ruben Amorim somewhat alive.
Matheus Cunha looks destined to become the first signing of the Red Devils’ summer. And a potentially transformative one too.
Man United are confident of beating Arsenal to the Wolves talisman. Cunha, whose £62.5 million release clause Manchester United are prepared to meet, appears the prime candidate to ease some of the burden on Bruno Fernandes’ ever-squared shoulders while providing a much-needed ruthless streak for a side boasting as much accuracy as a short-sighted Storm Trooper without his contact lenses.
Franco Mastantuono, while less of a ‘sure thing’ at just 17 years of age, is another who could add some belated magic to a tragic frontline.
Manchester United fought off Europe’s elite to bring in Leny Yoro last summer. Twelve months on, the Red Devils could do the same with another of world football’s most feted teenage talents.
River Plate president speaks out as Manchester United eye Franco Mastantuono
Man United are showing the strongest interest in Franco Mastantuono, according to reports out of Argentina, and are moving ahead in their plans to meet the release clause in his own contract.
River Plate will lose their prized asset sooner rather than later, it seems, but all the while gaining a £38 million windfall. At least, this is what the media say.
From the River Plate boardroom itself, club president Jorge Brito is keen to keep the speculation over Mastantuono’s future on the downlow, even if such an idea feels pretty fanciful given the rumour mill has already spun into overdrive.
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“The important thing is to stay calm. Understand that he is 17 years old. Understand that he is not in any hurry to leave, nor are River in a hurry to sell,” Brito tells ESPN.
“The best thing to do when something is in full growth is to let it continue growing and not touch anything. You have to be very careful and not put more pressure on it.”
Pressure, however, is something arguably the brightest young forward in South American football will have to get used to. Not that the twinkle-toed teenager appears overawed by all the expectation.
If Mastantuono’s sublime, swirling free-kick during the 2-1 Superclasico victory over bitter rivals Boca Juniors is anything to go by, this is a footballer happy to embrace such considerable exposure.
Mastantuono has been labelled Argentina’s next superstar after Lionel Messi
River Plate director Stefano Di Carlo shares Brito’s confidence, however, when saying that Mastantuono will remain in Argentina until the beginning of 2026. Though that does not stop Man United agreeing a deal now, and loaning him back to the Estadio Monumental for the remainder of the calendar year.
His surgical left-boot, meanwhile, has drawn inevitable comparisons with Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona. If Leny Yoro is the ‘Kylian Mbappe of defenders’, as some have suggested, could Old Trafford soon become home to the next great Argentine attacker?
Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez labels Mastantuono ‘incredible’. Former Albiceleste ace Mathias Almeyda, meanwhile, can envisage the 17-year-old joining Messi and Maradona in carving his face into the Mt Rushmore of blue-and-white superstars.
“Another Maradona or another Messi is unlikely to emerge but another player will come,” Almeyda argues. “After Maradona, people said that there would never be another like him. And then Messi appeared.
“And I think that after Messi another one will appear, and his name is Franco Mastantuono.”