Real Madrid fail to get Franco Mastantuono deal done in time for Club World Cup as 17-year-old prepares for last dance with River Plate

Real Madrid will sign River Plate wonderkid Mastantuono after the Club World Cup, according to Fabrizio Romano. Los Blancos beat Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain to the 17-year-old, who has already represented the Argentina national team, but there was always an expectation that he would stay with River for FIFA's newly-reformatted tournament this month.

Thankfully for Real Madrid, there is no danger of the deal collapsing, with the transfer window set to reopen again next week. Mastantuono will play his final handful of matches for River, who are set to take on Urawa Red Diamonds, Monterrey and Inter in Group E, before signing a six-year contract with the Spanish giants.

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Mastantuono became the youngest official debutant in Argentina history when he replaced Thiago Almada during the 1-0 away win over Chile earlier this month, being aged just 17 years and 296 days old.

Real Madrid are expected to trigger Mastantuono's €45m release clause when the next transfer window opens, with River president Jorge Brito recently admitting there is "not much we can do" about the saga.