In the Iberian country, they implied that Merengue felt harmed by the player's entourage
After that approach from Real Madrid almost a year ago, the left-footed native of Azul extended his contract with River until December 2026. To top it off, he was protected with a release clause of 45 million euros, which increases to 50 in the last days of each transfer window.
Meanwhile, for his performance in the Superclásico, Franco Mastantuono was once again in the sights of some of the most important clubs in world soccer. Despite the interest from the teams, the young talent from River, who will remain at the club throughout 2025, prefers to wait for Real Madrid.
Despite the player's wishes, it seems that the Spanish club has given up on signing him. According to Diario Sport, the white club decided to withdraw from the bid for the 17-year-old footballer because it felt "used by the player's entourage" in the previous attempt to add him to their ranks.
According to journalist Alejandro Alcázar, Mastantuono was "banned in Madrid" and is on a "blacklist" that would prevent any future signing by one of the most important teams on the planet.
"The talented Argentine player will not sign for the white team because he felt used last summer when they wanted him and he ended up renewing with River Plate," explained the information disseminator, who also closely follows the River youth player.
The interest of European clubs in River's jewel seems to grow with every match he plays. Recently, two teams have emerged as the main interested parties: Olympique de Marseille from France and Manchester United from England.
In the Superclásico last Sunday, Andrés Zamora, one of the main scouts of Olympique de Marseille, was at the stadium. His presence adds to the previous visit of Pablo Longoria, president of the French club, who had already attended the match between River and Talleres and had a conversation with Enzo Francescoli as the first formal approach to start negotiations.
Manchester United followed a similar line, as it expressed its intention to activate the 45 million euro release clause, "although in installments." Despite going through a difficult period and accumulating several years without dominating the Premier League, the English club remains one of the giants of world soccer and would represent a huge step in the career of the young man from Azul.
