Dario Felman column: Echeverri right to choose Man City, Ancelotti deserves lifetime deal
Will Claudio Echeverri be a good signing for Manchester City?
Claudio Echeverri is just 18 years old! He's incredible! He has pure talent too. I believe that he has made the right decision to not stay at River Plate and to go to England and join Manchester City. I believe he is going to the team with the ideal manager for him too.
Indeed, Pep Guardiola likes this class of young player. A footballer with ability, compact and good with the ball too. Guardiola had the virtue to create a great FC Barcelona side made up of similarly young little geniuses and with Messi leading the way.
However, Echeverri made his name playing for Argentina as an under-17 footballer not as a club player. Actually, he doesn't have that much experience as a club player in the top division. Yes, he has talent but there is a risk involved in buying a player with little experience at club level in the top division.
For his age, he is out of this world and very talented but we cannot know how he will develop in the Premier League. At the end of the day, it's a lottery. That said, he is an ideal player for Manchester City regarding his skill, physique and potential. Let's hope it works out well for him in England.
What do you make of Javier Milei's foreign investment push?
Javier Milei has a lot of work to do. I really hope that everything goes very well for him. He has a lot of work to do regarding Argentina as a country, which is in a very bad way at the moment regarding its economy.
With the exception of the time of the World Cups, it's rare that presidents of clubs in Argentina get involved in caring about improving football in their country.
I love that Javier Milei is helping to open the door to foreign involvement and privatising football in Argentina. I say 'bienvenido' (welcome) to football! I look forward to the professionalisation and privatisation of football in Argentina and for it to be run by professionals who understand football in a country (Argentina) that is crazy about football.
All of this will improve football in Argentina, a sport that is loved with a passion over there. Argentina needs figures like Milei.
Did Carlo Ancelotti deserve his contract renewal at Real Madrid?
For me, Ancelotti would be 'Don Carlos' and I say that with all the respect in the world. He is 'El Mister.' He deserves to have had his contract renewed.
He's a manager that doesn't create conflicts, who has made Real Madrid champions on many occasions, he keeps his squad content, and he is the perfect manager for Real Madrid.
He has won everything too! He is reserved and humble too. To manage the dressing room at Real Madrid is not easy but he makes it easy with his natural way of doing things and his credibility as a manager too. Players know when a manager is being sincere with them and when they are telling the truth.
If Ancelotti had gone to Brazil, he would have enjoyed it. To have all those Brazilian players together, some of whom play in Real Madrid, it would have been fun! Ancelotti has had his contract renewed at Real Madrid with all the merit in the world!
If, for some reason, he ends his contract as a manager of Real Madrid in the future, my hope would be that he would stays on at Real Madrid as a coordinator of sorts and teaches classes about how to play football so that we can continue enjoy his expertise in the field of football. He is a phenomenon.