Claudio Echeverri: £75m Bayer Leverkusen prediction made for “cracking talent” as Man City loanee was “right to turn down” Girona move

Manchester City starlet Claudio Echeverri has the potential to establish himself as a breakout star in the Bundesliga and could score up to 15 goals on loan at Bayer Leverkusen this season, Citizens expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has told Sports Mole.

The highly-rated 19-year-old joined Man City in January 2024, but he remained on loan at boyhood club River Plate until February 2025 when he linked up with Pep Guardiola’s first-team squad.

Echeverri arrived in Manchester on the back of an impressive Under-20 South American Championship campaign for Argentina, recording six goals and three assists across nine games as he captained his nation to a runners-up finish.

The attacking midfielder made his senior debut for Man City as a second-half substitute in the FA Cup final defeat to Crystal Palace in May, before scoring his first goal for the club - a brilliant free kick - in a FIFA Club World Cup group-stage win over Al-Ain a month later.

Echeverri will now continue his development in Germany with 2023-24 Bundesliga title winners Leverkusen, who have agreed to take the teenager on a straight loan for the 2025-26 campaign with no option to buy included in the deal.

Man City loanee Echeverri could become £75m player at Leverkusen

Echeverri, who made his debut as a late substitute in last weekend’ 2-1 defeat to Hoffenheim, has been handed the No.9 shirt at Leverkusen, suggesting that he could have an important role to play in a side competing in the Champions League and one managed by former Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag, who replaced Xabi Alonso earlier this summer.

The club-record departure of star playmaker Florian Wirtz has opened the door for Echeverri to fight for regular starts in the final third at Leverkusen, and McInerney is backing the talented youngster to thrive in the Bundesliga.

Speaking to Sports Mole, McInerney said: “Echeverri is a cracking talent. I think the football that hopefully they'll play over in Leverkusen will suit him.

“An awful lot of players have left the club. Quite famously Wirtz has gone to Liverpool, their star man. It's going to be a big change for them with a new manager (Ten Hag). Not the most successful manager at Man United, a little bit maligned, but of course, he's got a reputation as a good coach over in the Eredivisie with Ajax and so on.

“I think Echeverri is going to really enjoy being lent on in [the Bundesliga] and having time on the ball. Obviously, there's still a lot of quality around him. [Aleix] Garcia - an ex-City lad - is a good midfielder. [Alex] Grimaldo will bomb forward and he'll enjoy playing with him. They’ve got [Patrik] Schick up front. They're a good side Leverkusen.

“I expect that it could go really well for him if he gets in the team regularly. He could be the kind of talent where he's getting 15 goals and 10 assists or something like that for Leverkusen, and that's the kind of person who's worth £75m in the transfer market.”

Echeverri could be the next rising star to “stamp his authority” in Bundesliga

McInerney added: “If you have one season like that as an Argentinian wonderkid for a team like Leverkusen, everyone wants to buy you then. Look at [Jamie] Gittens getting a £55m, £60m move (to Chelsea). [Jadon] Sancho (when he joined Man United from Borussia Dortmund). Look at [Omar] Marmoush and [Hugo] Ekitike (joining Man City and Liverpool respectively from Eintracht Frankfurt) and then the rest of them.

“All these young attackers who've got so much skill and dynamism getting big moves after a season or two of playing at a high level. What's to say Echeverri couldn't stamp his authority on the Bundesliga a little bit and come back to Manchester in a year from now looking close to a finished product? It's very possible.

“It depends obviously on how he plays, where he plays and so on. I think there's spots for him. I can see him potentially where [Nathan] Tella played the other day (in behind the striker against Hoffenheim). Maybe he'll play as a false nine or something like that."

McInerney believes that Echeverri made the right decision to snub a loan move to Man City’s sister club Girona, as he believes that the Bundesliga is a “perfect” league for the attacker to continue his development.

“I think the Bundesliga is going to suit Claudio Echeverri,” said McInerney. “I think he's probably right to turn down a loan to Girona. He wanted to go Roma, but I think the Bundesliga is even more perfect for him.

Bundesliga “will suit” Echeverri who was “right to turn down” Girona loan

“The energy and the sort of sprightliness of the Bundesliga tends to favour young attackers. They just seem to have a lot of fun there because it isn't quite as tight as the Premier League, or it's not quite as physical as the Premier League either.

“You run a lot there, but it's a little bit more open, the team's a little bit more adventurous and I guess the dynamism and spark that Echeverri has to his game will suit the Bundesliga.

He continued: “I've got a feeling this is the right move for Echeverri. I don't think Girona would have been a good shout. They lost 4-0 the other day, Vitor Reis (on loan from Man City) had to try and stem that tide of negativity [away from] Girona. I think it would have been a lot for Echeverri.

“He would have found himself on the bench a lot. I think the nine shirt for him (at Leverkusen) clearly is a show of approval from Ten Hag. I'm expecting it'll be a good move for him.”

McInerney has also shared his views on Man City’s potential long-term plan for Echeverri and whether he is likely to be integrated into Guardiola’s first-team squad next season if he enjoyed a successful loan spell at Leverkusen.

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