Claudio Echeverri made a return to Manchester City action in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Wigan, according to Alan Nixon, with the Argentine now expected to feature in City’s shop window game against visiting clubs today.
The 20-year-old endured a difficult 2025-26 campaign split between loan spells at Bayer Leverkusen and Girona, managing just one goal and one assist in 17 La Liga appearances after struggling for minutes in the Bundesliga. City recalled him from Leverkusen in December before sending him back out to Spain in January, and question marks over his immediate future have persisted since.
Echeverri’s involvement in today’s ‘showcase’, alongside fringe names such as Max Alleyne, Divin Mubama and Issa Kabore, suggests City are again weighing up a temporary move for the attacking midfielder rather than a place in Enzo Maresca’s first-team plans this season.
River Plate and Monza have both been credited with interest in taking him on loan this summer. However, City have previously preferred to keep him developing in Europe rather than sanction a return to Argentina.
Echeverri was among the group of academy and fringe players named as part of City’s squad returning for pre-season training from 20 July, so involvement in a behind-closed-doors fixture in the meantime fits with a club still working out his next step before Maresca’s rebuild takes proper shape.
Story is based on reporting from Alan Nixon and not independently confirmed by Manchester City.
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