Manchester City have signed Claudio Echeverri from River Plate.
The attacking midfielder joins City on a four-and-a-half-year contract worth around £12. 5m plus extras.
The deal will allow Echeverri to sign on loan from River Plate for the remainder of the calendar year.
The Argentinian transfer window opened on Wednesday and City wasted no time in completing the signing.
The teenager, who turned 18 earlier this month, has already made six senior appearances for the Buenos Aries club, which is managed by former City defender Martin Demichelis, and captained Argentina to the semi-finals of the Under-17World Cup in November and December last year.
Echeverri, who trained with the senior team, scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 quarterfinal win over Brazil, but lost in the aftermath to Germany in the quarterfinals.
Echeverri follows in the footsteps of 2022 World Cup winner Julian Alvarez, who left River for City in 2022 and becomes the newest in a long line of Argentines to sign for the club.
“Everyone at Manchester City is looking forward to welcoming Claudio to the Club and we wish him the best of luck in his remaining time with River,” a statement from the Premier League champions concluded.
South American expert Tim Vickery, speaking earlier this month on Sky Sports:
“Echeverri follows a trail from Julian Alvarez – River Plate and Argentina to Manchester City and England – but with significant differences. Álvarez left at the age of 22 as an established Argentine foreigner and as the most productive player in Argentine football.
“Echeverri has just turned 18 and we have barely noticed him in Argentine major football. Only six games, maximum substitutes. It is the same adventure but with a very different background.
The promise is huge. Forget the new Lionel Messi thing – not least because Echeverri is right footed – but he’s very sharp, operates as a No 10 or on the shoulder of the last defender.
“Real pace and changes of pace, changes of rhythm, real knowledge of where to hurt the opposition and attacking space. But he’s still very raw so certainly one for the long term.”
The winter move-in window is now open and will close at 11 p. m. in England and Scotland on Thursday, February 1, 2024.
To align with Europe’s top leagues, the final dates have been set following talks with the EFL, DFL, Serie A, La Liga and LFP, all of which will close their summer and winter windows on September 1 and February 1 respectively.
Keep up to date with all the latest transfer news and rumours in our dedicated Transfer Centre blog on Sky Sports’ digital platforms, while you can also catch up with the ins, outs and analysis on Sky Sports News, including daily transfer shows, and listen to our Transfer Talk podcast.