Manchester City battling Tottenham and Atletico Madrid for $100M River Plate star | OneFootball

Manchester City are in the race to sign River Plate defender Lautaro Rivero amid competition from Tottenham and Atletico Madrid, as per a new report.

The Blues have signed Julian Alvarez and Claudio Echeverri from River Plate in recent seasons, with a growing foothold in the south American transfer market following the City Football Group’s takeover of Bahia in 2023.

Alvarez left Manchester City to join Atletico Madrid for £82 million last summer after enjoying two hugely successful seasons at the Etihad Stadium – wherein the 25-year-old won two Premier League titles, his maiden UEFA Champions League title and the FIFA World Cup during his time in England.

Echeverri arrived in Manchester in January and was handed his Manchester City debut off the bench in the Blues’ FA Cup final defeat to Crystal Palace. The Argentinian teenager impressed at the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States in June and joined Bayer Leverkusen on loan for the 2025-26 season.

Manchester City made sweeping changes to their first-team squad in the recent transfer window in the backdrop of frustrating 2024-25 season – wherein Pep Guardiola and co finished trophyless and recorded their lowest league points tally en route to a third-place finish.

Hugo Viana was appointed as City’s sporting director in the spring and the Portuguese pulled no punches in his first transfer window in charge at the Etihad Stadium – signing off on the notable exits of Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker, Ilkay Gundogan, Ederson, James McAtee, Jack Grealish and Manuel Akanji.

City made seven new signings to their squad in the summer after a dormant 2024 summer window where the club should have been more aggressive, as admitted by chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak in an interview this year.

The Blues are not expected to be nearly as active in the 2026 January transfer window but could look to pounce on an opportunity that presents itself and is deemed too good to turn down – as happened when Manchester City secured the arrival of Gianluigi Donnarumma from £26 million from Paris Saint-Germain.

According to El Intransigente, as relayed by Sport Witness, Manchester City are in the race to sign River Plate defender Lautaro Rivero and face stiff competition from the likes of Atletico Madrid and Tottenham.

Tottenham and Atletico Madrid have made initial enquiries for the 21-year-old defender, who has a $100 million release clause in his contract and is increasingly expected to leave River Plate by club officials.

River Noticias have added that formal bids in the region of $20 million are expected sooner rather than later Tottenham and Atletico Madrid for Rivero, who is widely renowned as the one of the world’s best up-and-coming defenders.

River Plate will stand firm on their $100 million valuation of their academy graduate, who could soon be following Alvarez and Echeverri into the Etihad Stadium should Manchester City look to bolster their backline next summer.