Franco Mastantuono: Why Real Madrid have spent €40m on River Plate and Argentina's Phil Foden-esque teenager

In his early days, Mastantuono couldn't choose a sport. Born 300 kilometres south of Buenos Aires in the thriving town of Azul, Mastantuono was a dual-sport athlete from an early age. Indeed, in his youngest years, he played both tennis and football, equally skilled at both.

In fact, things could have gone so differently. River Plate offered him a spot in their academy at the age of 10, but Mastantuono declined, his family's desire to have him pursue his goals in tennis serving as the reason for his decision. Instead, he played local club football for a year.

However, in 2019, when River came calling again, Mastantuono couldn't say no. The midfielder saw his youth career disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, but quickly found his feet when football reopened in Argentina. He was the top scorer at various youth levels, and earned a call up to River's Under-17 side as a 15-year-old.

Mastantuono was very much a known commodity from the outset of his academy days, touted early on as one of the most talented players to come through the system in some time. Riding the same hype train as Man City midfielder Claudio Echeverri, he consistently played above his age group.

In August 2023, Mastantuono signed a two-year contract with River, complete with a $45 million (£39.5m) release clause - which, at the time, was shockingly high for a player of just 16 years of age that had yet to make a first-team appearance.

But he was soon rewarded. Manager Martin Demichelis called Mastantuono up to train with the senior side soon after, and worked the youngster into their pre-season preparations. He debuted against Liga MX side Monterrey and also appeared against Pachuca. January 2024 brought his official debut, Mastantuono coming on in the second half of a cup game against Argentinos Juniors.

Since then, Mastantuono has only improved. His first senior goal, a sweet volley to seal a win over Excursionistas in the Copa Argentina in February 2024, made him the club's youngest-ever goal-scorer, surpassing a mark then held by Javier Saviola.

Despite that initial promise, a puzzling few months followed for the attacking midfielder. Demichelis was at first reluctant to throw Mastantuono consistently into contests, leading to outrage from local fans as River struggled for form and consistency in Argentina's top-flight. Ultimately, they finished the 2024 season fifth in the standings and Demichelis was shown the door, replaced by club legend Marcelo Gallardo, while Mastantuono was handed another new contract tying him until 2026.

The 2025 season has been much kinder to the teenage, who has worked his way into the starting line up and lived up to the hype. He nearly broke the internet with a wicked Paul Gascoigne-esque free-kick against rivals Boca Juniors in a 2-1 victory back in April, and that was swiftly followed by a first call-up to the Argentina senior team. While with the world champions, he became the men's team's youngest-ever player in a competitive match when he replaced Thiago Almada in a 1-0 victory at Chile.

This summer, the sweepstakes to sign Mastantuono intensified. Newly-crowned European champions Paris Saint-Germain thought they had him, but you can never count out Madrid until a player signs on the dotted line, and it has now been confirmed that he will head to the capital of Spain rather than France in a €40m (£34m/$45m) deal.

Mastantuono's talent is undeniable. It leaps off the screen. He is dazzling on the ball, capable of coming off the right wing and cutting onto his left foot to great effect.

He is an adept dribbler with quick feet who can sense tiny spaces and acute angles for a killer pass, serving as a real creative threat - especially against teams that like to sit deep.

And when opponents stand off, he can cause all sorts of problems, particularly as his ball-striking ability - especially from long range - is outstanding. If he consistently adds free-kicks like his Superclasico strike to his arsenal in the long run, there may be no way of stopping him in the final third.

Mastantuono is obviously a player of enormous potential, but remains rather one-dimensional in his game. He is arguably too eager to cut onto his left foot, and isn't nearly as comfortable on his right. That has made him predictable on occasion, with opponents more than happy to simply show him onto his weaker side.

Like many youngsters, he could also do with bulking up a bit. Although Mastantuono is just under six feet, he's not much of an imposing figure, and can get bullied when the ball is in the air. That might not be too much of a problem while playing for a possession-heavy team in La Liga, but it would certainly help round out his game if he became more of a physical presence.

There are a few reference points here. In many ways, Mastantuono resembles a younger Dominik Szoboszlai, such is his ability to charge into space, cut onto a stronger foot, and have a crack at goal. There is the obvious caveat that Mastantuono is left-footed, though. Plus, the Liverpool man is far more of a two-way player than the young Argentine.

Perhaps a more apt comparison - and certainly a lofty goal to hit - is Phil Foden. The two share the same shifty ability on the ball, and footballing IQ to make things happen in tight areas. There are also undeniable parallels in their shooting form. And although Mastantuono has claimed that his childhood idols all came through Argentine football, his resemblance to Foden is striking.

Madrid beckons for Mastantuono, where he will follow a long line of talent to have swapped his home continent for the grand stage of the Bernabeu. Los Blancos are parting with a pretty penny to get their man and have had to launch quite the charm offensive to beat PSG in the race to sign the 17-year-old, yet the Spanish press take no prisoners and will demand output straight away regardless of his age.

History suggests, however, that Mastantuono will have to take his blows before producing the goods. Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo both struggled in their first few European seasons despite having plenty of minutes in South American football under their belt, while we have yet to see Endrick come to the fore since he arrived last summer and there are already questions over his future.

If Madrid had got their way, then Mastantuono wwould have been in their squad for the Club World Cup this summer, but River were able to keep hold of him for their own campaign in the United States, with the two clubs potentially set to face off in the knockout stages. Such a meeting would only continue what has been a storybook beginning to the youngster's career so far.