Barcelona put €25m aside to land ‘new Lionel Messi’

Imre Himmelbauer

• 15 Dec 2023 17:30 GMT
• 3 min read

Barcelona are ready to pay €25 million for Argentine sensation Claudio Echeverri, who has been dubbed the ‘new Lionel Messi’.

The River Plate attacking midfielder was one of the standouts of the Under-17 World Cup and has already been nicknamed after Messi, who holds the record for most appearances, goals and assists at Barca, as well as having won the Ballon d’Or on eight occasions.

According to Argentine source Radio La Red, Echeverri is also eager to follow in his compatriot’s footsteps to move to Camp Nou.

Echeverri to Barca no formality

The talented playmaker reportedly stated that Barcelona is his dream club.

The competition for the player is expected to be intense, though. Chelsea and Manchester City are also tracking the player. Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain were also previously linked with the right-sided player.

Echeverri has a contract with River Plate until the end of 2024 but Barcelona are willing to pay €25 million to free the youth international from that bond.

It cannot be ruled out that their transfer offer is not sufficient and that they demand more for the talented dribbler.

With so much hype around the player and many of Europe’s most financially powerful clubs interested in him, Barcelona will do well to land the youngster given the significant restrictions they face in this regard.

Echeverri has played 94 minutes for River Plate's first team this season. However, the South American particularly stood out during the U17 World Cup, where he scored five times and provided one assist in seven matches.

In the 3-0 quarter-final win against Brazil, he was the absolute star on the Argentinian side with three goals. Argentina U17s eventually lost the semi-final against Germany on penalties and were then defeated 3-0 by Mali in the third-fourth place playoff.