16-year-old player from River Plate, Argentina, made his debut this year among the professionals and has already scored a goal for the main team
It seems that the Real Madrid already has a new target in South America. After taking Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo It is Endrick from Brazil, the merengue club is interested in one of the main jewels of the River Plate, from Argentina. According to the newspaper “Marca”, the young man Franco Mastantuono, only 16 years old, is a wish for the Spanish. The athlete made his debut this year among the Argentine team’s professionals and has already scored a goal with the main team’s shirt.
After being a great highlight of River’s youth team, Mastantuono made his professional debut on January 28, during the draw against Students by 1 to 1, valid for Argentine Championship. The promise’s first goal came in his fourth match for the main team, his first as a starter. Franco scored the second goal in the 3-0 victory over Excursionistsin the first phase of Argentine Cup.
In recent weeks, the Whites have sent representatives to South America for two main purposes, as reported by the Spanish newspaper. The first was to follow Endrick at the beginning of a new season with the Palm trees and the second would be to see Mastantuono’s evolution up close in his first year as a professional for River Plate. The possible signing of an under-20 player follows Real Madrid’s pattern of betting a high price on young prospects.
Vinicius Junior was bought from Flamengo in 2017 at the age of 16. Rodrygo, from Santos in 2018, aged 17. The Ukrainian Andriy Luninaged 19, was purchased from Zorya Luhanskin 2018. Brahim Díaz was just 19 years old when it was purchased in 2019 from Manchester City. Takefusa Kubo was 18 years old when the Tokyo FC sold it in 2019. Endrick was just 16 when he was purchased in 2022. Among many other examples.
Madrilenians are not the only ones who are increasingly buying world football prospects. In January of this year, River Plate itself sold Claudio Echeverriaged 18, to Manchester City for £12.4 million, signing a contract with the English until June 2028.
Source: sportbuzz
I am William Jackson and I have a passion for sports journalism. With over 3 years of experience in the industry, I have worked in a variety of roles to improve the quality and accuracy of sports news coverage. As an author at Athletistic, I specialize in covering football news and providing comprehensive analysis for fans around the world.
