Manchester City are tracking Argentine teenager Claudio Echeverri, dubbed in his homeland as the next Lionel Messi.

The Mirror report that the Premier League champions observed the River Plate starlet as he starred at the recent Under-17 World Cup.

And they hope their strong relationship with the Buenos Aires club — forged during negotiations for Julian Alvarez — will give them the edge in the race to sign the wonderkid.

The 17-year-old is also being watched by Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan.

He notched a hat-trick against Brazil at that tournament, three of five strikes across the competition.

River Plate are said to have inserted a release clause worth £21.44million into the contract Echeverri signed in January, with that figure rising to £25.73m within 10 days of the end of any transfer window. 

They are now attempting to renegotiate his deal to increase that fee.

Alvarez has been a hit in England, scoring 25 goals and assisting 11 in 69 appearances.

And City hope they can repeat the trick with the latest talent to come out of Argentina.

In other news

Tottenham, Aston Villa, Newcastle and Brighton are set to join Man City in the race for Ajax defensive midfielder Kenneth Taylor, according to TEAMtalk.

Spurs are also the latest club to take an interest in Kalvin Phillips, claim Football Insider, with the midfielder needing playing time ahead of Euro 2024.

Sky Germany report that Bayern Munich could move to sign Mike Maignan from AC Milan as they aim to replace Manuel Neuer.