City have been linked with yet another young player tipped for greatness, with the Daily Mail reporting they may not have joined the chase for River Plate midfielder Matias Kranevitter after scouts from The Blues were spotted watching the 21-year-old in Buenos Aires over the weekend.
Even at such an early stage of his career, the midfielder has been labelled the “new Mascherano”, a label that many players would be proud of. Kranevitter’s compatriot Mascherano did of course come to England from Corinthians in 2006, following an impressive World Cup with Argentina, and he’s now gone on to play over 200 games for Barcelona in one of the most successful sides ever – high expectations for Kranevitter then.
Already, Kranevitter has become highly-rated in his spell with River Plate, with whom he has been playing first team football for 4 years now. He’s also featured for Argentina’s under-20 side in the past.
Whilst one of the big hold-ups that often occurs for deals like this is issues with work permits, however the Argentinian midfielder does hold an EU passport, making him much more attractive to potential bidders. There is thought to be interest from elsewhere in Europe, with Jose Luis Luraschi (the 21-year-old’s agent) telling Italian press, “there are proposals from Italy, but he’s also wanted in Spain, England and Portugal.”
City are expected to be looking mainly at younger talents this summer, and Kranevitter could become the second Argentinian midfielder to make the move to Eastlands from South America in the last two years, following Bruno Zuculini’s move last year – hopefully, if Kranevitter is to sign then this deal won’t be as protracted as the Zuculini deal.
