Pep Guardiola displeased with Manchester City star’s loan situation – Club officials considering January recall | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has been left annoyed with how Claudio Echeverri’s loan stint at Bayer Leverkusen has so far transpired, as per a new report.

The 19-year-old joined City from River Plate in 2024 and after spending some more time with his boyhood club in south America, the U21 Argentina international joined forces with Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium in January.

Echeverri has trodden down the Julian Alvarez path from River Plate to Manchester City and is expected to play a pivotal role for the Blues in the seasons to come, with the eight-time Premier League champions building a winning squad for the future under newly-appointed sporting director Hugo Viana.

Viana conducted a major revamp of Guardiola’s squad in the summer and despite club executives pushing him to follow fellow January arrival Vitor Reis to a season-long loan at CFG-owned Girona in Spain, Echeverri and his representatives pushed to join Bayer Leverkusen.

City sanctioned a series of season-long loans for first-team stars in the recent transfer window and did cave in the end as Echeverri headed to Germany to progress his development in the Bundesliga as the Blues undergo a period of transition at the Etihad Stadium.

However, Echeverri’s time in the German top-flight has not gone to plan so far as the winger has been restricted to 240 minutes of senior action in a Leverkusen side that witnessed the sacking of Erik ten Hag just weeks into the 2025-26 season.

Manchester City closely monitor on-loan stars and retain the option to recall Echeverri back to England in the 2026 January window, where the club are not expected to be nearly as active as they were in the summer, though Viana and co will be tracking the market for any opportunities that could bolster the squad in an area of frailty.

Bild have reported that Guardiola has been left ‘annoyed’ with how Echeverri’s loan stint at Leverkusen has transpired as Manchester City officials plan mid-season talks with the German outfit over a possible recall for their talented teenager, as relayed by Sport Witness.

City are well stocked in midfield but have heavily relied on Erling Haaland to supply the goods in front of goal in the opening months of the season, with Guardiola publicly lamenting a lack of attacking output from other areas of attack and midfield.

The Blues are understood to be tracking Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo ahead of the 2026 January window, with conversations expected to occur on whether there would be merit in recalling Echeverri and embedding him into a new-look Manchester City squad.

Manchester City could also choose to send the Argentine on loan elsewhere should they deem opportunities would be few and far between for the attacking midfielder at the Etihad Stadium, with the Blues closing in on Premier League leaders Arsenal following a strong run of results since September.

It remains to be seen where Echeverri will be playing his football come February 2026 but Manchester City have reason to be displeased with how Leverkusen have failed to give the Argentine a fair run of games to express himself since his move to Germany in August.