Claudio Echeverri left River's preseason in the United States and returned to Argentina to join the U-23 team. Javier Mascherano called him up after Pedro De la Vega was confirmed injured, who suffered a torn ACL. In this way, El Diablito will have a new challenge with the Albiceleste, after his outstanding performance in the U-17 World Cup.
Having just turned 18, Echeverri had started pre-season with River, just after his transfer to Manchester City was sealed for 29 million euros gross. And in his head there was only the possibility of wearing the red band and getting into Martín Demichelis' team, in a 2024 that will have him as a protagonist in Núñez.
However, the first matches of the Chaco native in 2024 will be with the Argentine shirt, with which he shone with the U-17 at the World Cup in Indonesia. There he scored three goals against Brazil in the quarterfinals and shone throughout the competition, in which Diego Placente's team finished in fourth place, after being eliminated in the semifinal by Germany and losing the third-place match to Mali.
El Diablito Echeverri and a statement that dampened River's celebrations in Santiago.
In this way, Echeverri was back in the news, after a hectic end to 2023 and a start to 2024 at full speed. After that unfortunate phrase in Santiago del Estero, when he said "I'm not going to renew", a media impact was generated that caused a series of continuous news about Echeverri.
The South American Olympic Qualifiers are scheduled to take place from January 20 to February 11 in Venezuela. Therefore, at the very least, Echeverri will miss five games of the League Cup, as the tournament will start on January 28 and will have two midweek dates, on the 31st of this month and the 14th of February.
This is one of the situations that complicated Martín Demichelis last year to not be able to give so much shooting to the youth player who made his debut in the First Division on Wednesday, June 22, against Instituto, at the Monumental. Much of 2023, Echeverri spent at the AFA stadium in Ezeiza with the U-17 of Placente.
Claudio Echeverri - Diablito Echeverri CHAMPION RIVER - RIVER VS CENTRAL Photo:IG CHAMPIONS TROPHY
Faced with this new situation, in which Echeverri will be affected by the U-23s, River will not only not lose the Diablito on the field. It will also waste time in the countdown to the number of games Echeverri has to play for Manchester City to pay for the goals achieved. It should be remembered that the group that leads the English club will pay 500 thousand euros every 8 games that Echeverri plays. From each of those matches, you must play at least 45 minutes.
"El Diablito Echeverri deserves the summons, he's a great guy," said Enzo Francescoli, in an interview with ESPN in the United States. And, on the transfer, he added: "The sale of Echeverri is very good. He is only 18 years old, we were able to do it without executing the clause, for almost the same value and he stays with us for a year. Things have been done well with the will of the boy, his agent and Manchester City."