Chelsea, Man City and Barca on transfer red alert as ‘next Lionel Messi’ confirms he WON’T sign new River Plate contract

CHELSEA, Manchester City and Barcelona have received a huge boost in their pursuit of Argentine wonderkid Claudio Echeverri.

River Plate forward Echeverri, 17, attracted interest following a sensational U17 South American Championship back in April.

GettyClaudio Echeverri could be set for a move to Europe in January[/caption]

Echeverri wears the No10 shirt for Argentina’s U17 side, like Lionel Messi does for the senior teamGetty

The teenager, who wears the No10 for Argentina‘s age group side, scored five goals and provided three assists in eight games at the tournament as his country finished third.

Now he could be set to follow in the footsteps of iconic Argentine No10 Lionel Messi by moving to Europe.

That is after he confirmed he will NOT be signing a new contract with River Plate.

He told ESPN: “I’m NOT going to renew my contract at River Plate.

“I’m going to play for the next months and then we see what happens.”

Echeverri’s deal expires in December 2024, with his release clause set at £21.6million.

This will increase to £26m in the final days of the January transfer window.

Manchester City are leading the way in their attempts to sign the attacker – with the Treble winners keen to agree a deal before loaning him back to River for the remainder of the season.

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This would mirror the transfer made between River and Man City for Julian Alvarez last year.

But Chelsea are also pushing to secure his services.

According to Sky Germany journalist Sarah Wieczorak, Mauricio Pochettino’s men want to sign the youngster and then loan him out to Strasbourg – who are also owned by American Todd Boehly.

Barcelona, Juventus, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain are among the other huge clubs sniffing around Echeverri.

Both Chelsea and Man City are yet to make a formal offer to River Plate.