Manchester City may be willing to offload one of their winter arrivals in order to make way for their latest £42million plaything.
Pep Guardiola’s side forked out £180m on five new stars in the last transfer window in a bid to resurrect their wilting title defence.
Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, and Abdukodir Khusanov have been parachuted straight into the side while teenagers Vitor Reis and Juma Bah are awaiting their Premier League bow.
Argentinian wonderkid Claudio Echeverri also came through the door as he was unveiled in February – 13 months after he was signed for £12.5m from River Plate, where he was sent straight back on loan until this year.
Echeverri, 19, has been training with the champions but is yet to earn any minutes.
And Calcio Mercato reports that City could force the youngster on loan to Lazio to sweeten their move for centre-back Mario Gila.
Gila, 24, reportedly has a queue of top European sides lined up with their wallets out, including Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, PSG, and Real Madrid.
Lazio owner Claudio Lotito has slapped a £42m price tag on the defender, though half of any fee received will be owed to Madrid, who developed him.
La Gazzetta dello Sport also reported that Echeverri was spotted in a restaurant near Lazio’s training centre.
Gila was part of Spain’s squad for the international break, called up as a replacement for the injured Pau Cubarsi, although he did not make his debut.
After debuting for Madrid in 2021-22, he moved to Lazio three summers ago and has become a regular with the Serie A giants.
Attacking midfielder Echeverri, meanwhile, has been touted in some quarters as the ‘next Lionel Messi’ after his achievements at River Plate.
He impressed for them, making 48 appearances across the past two seasons, scoring four goals and adding eight assists.
The 19-year-old’s stock rose further when he was the driving force during Argentina Under-20s run to the final at the South American Championships in January.
Captaining the side, Echeverri netted six goals and recorded three assists during the tournament.
In February, City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain hailed him as ‘one of the finest talents to emerge from South America in recent years,’ but he has been unable to break onto the pitch so far.
Speaking following his unveiling, Echeverri, who has penned a contract until 2028, expressed his delight.
‘I cannot tell you how excited I am to be here in Manchester and to finally be able to call myself a Manchester City player,’ he said.
‘Football has been my life, and my dream was to play for one of the best teams in Europe. Today I am closer to that dream.
‘Manchester City are one of the best teams in the world. Not only do they win trophies, they play the game so beautifully. They are an example to everyone – they show people how to play football the best way.
‘My focus now is on working as hard as I can in training to show the manager and his staff I am good enough to be part of this team.’