Arsenal rival Chelsea and Real Madrid in wonderkid race

Tom Weber

• Updated: 24 Sept 2024 10:06 BST
• 3 min read

Arsenal have joined the race to sign Franco Mastantuono, according to a report.

The River Plate youngster has been one of South America's most in-demand talents for some time now, so it came as quite a surprise that he was not signed by a big European side in the summer.

Real Madrid have been heavily courting Mastantuono and there was even speculation that an agreement between the parties had already been reached, but this evidently wasn't the case.

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Los Blancos' failure to close the deal appears to have emboldened other clubs, particularly in the Premier League, to move for the 17-year-old attacking midfielder.

At least that is according to CaughtOffside, which claims that several Premier League heavyweights are looking to blow Real Madrid out of the water.

Arsenal, Chelsea in Mastantuono race

The report asserts that Arsenal and Chelsea have begun taking a keen interest in Mastantuono after the LaLiga giants missed out on him. Mikel Arteta is said to be impressed with the young Argentine, but there is an acceptance that luring him to north London won't be easy.

In addition to Chelsea and Real Madrid, the likes of Man City and Barcelona have been keeping tabs on Mastantuono. City, of course, know River Plate's impressive youth work very well, having previously signed Julian Alvarez and Claudio Echeverri from the Buenos Aires-based side.

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Real Madrid are still thought to hold an advantage over Mastantuono's other suitors as they have already held extensive talks with the teenager, who is keen on the move.

However, the report asserts that a move to Chelsea or Arsenal 'can't be ruled out' and that those two big hitters are perfectly capable of matching River's €45 million asking price.

For Arsenal, it would be an unusual deal. While they have bet heavily on younger players, they usually sign them only when they already boast significant experience in Europe's top leagues.

Marquinhos and Gabriel Martinelli are the only somewhat recent examples of the Gunners signing teenagers directly from South America.