The latest Latin American talent to become the object of European attentions is River Plate playmaker Franco Mastantuono. The 16-year-old Argentine entered the River first team this season, and has only raised expectations with his contributions.
River have also moved to raise his buyout clause, extending his deal until December of 2026, and placing a €45m release clause in his deal, which rises by €5m in the final days of the transfer window. This week it was reported that Real Madrid had decided that Mastantuono was worth pursuing in the transfer market.
However he was initially linked with Barcelona, along with Manchester United, and Sport say that the Blaugrana have made contact with his agents in order to sound out the player. The Catalan side have been monitoring Mastantuono for some time, and regard him as a differential talent.
🚨 Barcelona are still in the race for River Plate star Franco Mastantuono. Barça hope that he will reject Real Madrid in order to have options to sign him in the future, preferably in the summer of 2025. Madrid are pushing hard though, so it will be a difficult one. @sport 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/gHNYgjKMGC
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) April 3, 2024
Their hope is that Mastantuono can be persuaded to hold off committing to a team until 2025, when the Blaugrana hope to be able to afford a deal for him. Meanwhile Real Madrid will leave him in Argentina for another year, but are willing to move for Mastantuono immediately.
It’s certainly a hard sell for the Blaugrana. While they can perhaps make the case that Mastantuono will get more opportunities with them rather than at Real Madrid, where the competition for places is even more pronounced, holding off a deal risks injury or poor form reducing his options. Equally, Lamine Yamal is another left-footed creator that enjoys coming in from the right side onto his left, something Mastatntuono does plenty of.
