Manchester City stance on Claudio Echeverri and Vitor Reis loan recalls revealed | OneFootball

Manchester City retain an option to recall loanee duo Claudio Echeverri and Vitor Reis from Bayer Leverkusen and Girona in the 2026 January transfer window, as per a new report.

City sanctioned a series of loans to streamline the first-team squad over the course of the summer transfer window as manager Pep Guardiola repeatedly called on the board to trim the group as part of a wider revamp of the dressing room.

After enduring their worst season under Guardiola, Manchester City officials also sought to offload senior stars past their prime to bring in fresh blood and offload long-serving players on big salaries to trim the wage bill.

Jack Grealish, Manuel Akanji, Claudio Echeverri, Sverre Nypan and Vitor Reis are amongst those who departed on season-long loans, joining Everton, Inter Milan, Bayer Leverkusen, Middlesbrough and Girona respectively.

As parent club, Manchester City typically retain a clause that enables the club to recall loanees midway through the season in the January transfer window, though officials work to avoid such a scenario to allow the player in question to flourish elsewhere.

City added seven new names to their first-team ranks in the recent window after after a miserable start to the season, the Blues have turned a corner and find themselves in fifth place in the Premier League table after seven games.

Guardiola and co are undergoing a period of change on the pitch following the mass exodus conducted by newly-appointed director of football Hugo Viana in the summer, with the likes of Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders brought in to mitigate the notable loss of long-serving architect-in-chief Kevin De Bruyne.

However, there have been questions raised over the prospects of Guardiola’s current roster of players and whether Manchester City may need to enter the 2026 January transfer market for reinforcements as they look to challenge on all fronts after a sub-standard 2024-25 campaign.

Mail Sport’s Jack Gaughan has revealed the club’s stance on the possibility of bringing back Echeverri and Reis from Bayer Leverkusen and Girona respectively should Manchester City feel the pair would be better served by a return to their parent club.

Echeverri has had a tough time in the German top-flight since pushing to join Leverkusen, who sacked Erik ten Hag as manager early into the season. The 19-year-old Argentine has played just 14 minutes in the Bundesliga under new boss Kasper Hjulmand.

Reis has been a regular feature for Girona in central defence but the La Liga side are struggling at the bottom of the Spanish top-flight – which is likely to be viewed as a learning curve amongst City Football Group (CFG) officials when the loan is reviewed at the Etihad Stadium in the months leading to the 2026 January window.

Echeverri is much likelier, as it stands, to return to Manchester City in January 2026 but Guardiola is expected to have a large say on the matter and Viana will not sanction a return for the young Argentinian unless City need reinforcements in their attacking midfield ranks – in the event of a major injury to one of their current first-team stars.