It’s been a pretty miserable season for Manchester City, given their own sky-high expectations, but it could still end with silverware.
On Sunday, the Citizens reached a third successive FA Cup Final, courtesy of a rather comfortable 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest, in which Rico Lewis broke the deadlock after less than 100 seconds, before Joško Gvardiol’s towering header sealed the deal.
After the match, when asked if winning the FA Cup and finishing third would constitute a successful season, Pep Guardiola adamantly exclaimed “nope”, adding “this season has not been good… we are a thousand million points behind Liverpool”.
Guardiola also stated that both he and the club need to make the right decisions to ensure that next season is better, so could the arrival of one of the most sought-after teenagers in world football help reinvigorate and re-energise this team?
Kevin De Bruyne’s Manchester City farewell
Since confirming that he will leave Manchester City this summer, Kevin De Bruyne’s performances have been mixed.
First, he scored this sumptuous free-kick against Crystal Palace that sparked a turnaround, with the Citizens 2-0 down at that point, before fighting back to prevail 5-2.
A week later, however, the Belgian’s performance against Everton at Goodison was widely criticised, with Simon Bajkowski of the Manchester Evening News stating that he failed to ‘make the decisive breakthrough’ and that his passing actually ‘got worse as the game went on’.
Then, to the surprise of many, De Bruyne was an unused substitute for Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final win at Wembley, despite having started the previous four Premier League fixtures.
So, it appears as though Guardiola is phasing out a player he himself described as “one of the best” midfielders to ever grace the Premier League, because do Man City have their eyes set on a 17-year-old De Bruyne replacement?
Pep Guardiola’s dream De Bruyne replacement
According to a report from Spain, Manchester City ‘are seriously considering… making a considerable offer’ to sign River Plate attacker Franco Mastantuono.
The report claims that Guardiola is ‘in love’ with this 17-year-old talent, as he ‘would fit perfectly’ into this Man City team, although another prior report from the same source believes Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain also have a ‘firm’ interest.
So who is Mastantuono, and why are so many top European clubs chasing his signature?
Why Man City want to sign Mastantuono
Well, let’s take a look at the teenager’s career statistics to date.
|
Franco Mastantuono’s River Plate career statistics |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Competitions |
Appearances |
Minutes |
Goals |
Assists |
|
Copa Libertadores |
10 |
477 |
1 |
Zero |
|
Primera División |
33 |
1,617 |
4 |
5 |
|
Copa Argentina |
2 |
142 |
2 |
Zero |
|
Copa de la Liga |
9 |
288 |
Zero |
Zero |
|
Supercopa Internacional |
1 |
66 |
Zero |
Zero |
|
Total |
55 |
2,590 |
7 |
5 |
|
All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt |
||||
As the table outlines, Mastantuono is still very inexperienced, which isn’t too surprising considering he’s just 17 years old, but he has been earning rave reviews.
As noted by Graham Ruthven in the Soccer Dispatch, Mastantuono wrote his name into River Plate folklore by scoring this stunning free-kick during Sunday’s 2-1 Superclásico victory over Boca Juniors at the Monumental.
Meantime, Guillem Balague believes he will be the next Argentine ‘sensation’, while Ben Mattinson of Breaking the Lines labels him a ‘skilled artist’, praising his ‘elegance’ and ‘fearlessness to take on players’.
River Plate board member Stefano Di Carlo has confirmed that they intend to keep Mastantuono at the club ‘for the remainder of 2025’, with la Banda set to compete at the Club World Cup this summer, drawn alongside Urawa Red Diamonds, Monterrey and Inter Milan, possibly hoping impressive performances will increase his value.
However, Fabrizio Romano reports that he has a release clause of €41m (around £35m), suggesting clubs should act fast.
From a Man City perspective, Mattinson believes Mastantuono has “shades of De Bruyne” given his “elite potential” as a chance creator, showing that the recently dethroned Premier League champions should go all out to secure his signature, even if they would be forced to wait a few months for him to actually arrive.
The teenager could then represent the perfect successor to the veteran Belgian at the Etihad.
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