Who is Franco Mastantuono? Youngster linked with Real Madrid & UCL winners PSG

The River Plate forward has been called up to represent the Argentina senior team.

As clubs show interest in signing River Plate’s young star Franco Mastantuono, PSG and Real Madrid are seemingly leading the race.

Reports claim that the 17-year-old Franco Mastantuono prefers Paris Saint-Germain to other European teams. In order to sell the concept to the young midfielder, PSG will use their success in Europe this season to speed up negotiations with Mastantuono to reach a personal terms agreement.

Under the direction of Luis Enrique and Luís Campos, PSG are rapidly establishing itself as a location for the development of emerging talent.

🚨🇦🇷 Understand release clause for Mastantuono is worth $45m plus $10m taxes, price indicated by River Plate to all clubs interested.Real Madrid keep working hard in the recent hours to advance on Franco Mastantuono deal in battle with PSG… who are on it since April. pic.twitter.com/k7hNG3arYt

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 4, 2025

Who is Franco Mastantuono? Is he the next Argentine prodigy?

Mastantuono, who was born in Azul in Argentina’s Buenos Aires Province, developed an early interest in tennis and competed at the national level as a young player. At the age of three, Mastantuono started playing football with River de Azul, where his father served as coach.

His family encouraged him to keep practising tennis. Even though he was granted a spot in the academy, he turned down an invitation to try out for the professional team River Plate in 2017. During this time, he was playing for River de Azul. Instead, when he was eleven years old, he signed with Club Cemento.

Franco Mastantuono chose to accept River Plate’s offer two years later in 2019 and relocated to the Buenos Aires-based team. He made his debut for the young team in their final match of the 2019 campaign.

He entered for AFA events the following year, but the COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina interrupted his season.

After continuing his development in the River Plate academy, Franco Mastantuono signed his first contract with the team in August 2023. It was a two-year agreement with a €30 million release clause.

Mastantuono was called up by coach Martín Demichelis along with several other young team players. He was a part of River Plate’s squad for their preseason training the following year.

Receives his first-ever senior national team call-up

River Plate star Franco Mastantuono has received his first-ever call-up by Argentina national team boss Lionel Scaloni for the forthcoming World Cup qualification matches.

👏 Primera convocatoria para Franco Mastantuono a la Selección Mayor 🇦🇷📝 Argentina enfrentará a Chile y luego a Colombia en el Mâs Monumental, por la doble fecha de Eliminatorias. pic.twitter.com/8ZosKAEts3

— River Plate (@RiverPlate) May 31, 2025

La Albiceleste have already secured their spot in the World Cup for next year. They will play Chile and Colombia this June. Mastantuono’s inclusion follows his explosive performance with River Plate.

With seven goals and four assists this season, the 17-year-old offensive phenom has been regarded as Argentina’s next big thing.

Mastantuono models his style of play on Neymar, Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez

River Plate youth manager Martín Pellegrino praised Mastantuono’s ability to strike the ball and said the left-footed midfielder could play as a forward, an enganche, or a play-making midfielder.

Pablo Fernández, assistant coach of the River Plate reserve squad, has also praised his knack for challenging players one-on-one, scoring from free kicks, and striking the ball.

Mastantuono personally has said that he seeks to draw inspiration for his style of play from River Plate attackers Ignacio Fernández and Matías Suárez, as well as compatriot Argentine Julián Alvarez and players like Phil Foden and Neymar.

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