Next Foden? Why is Real Madrid willing to spend 40 million on 17-year-old Mastantono

Real Madrid takes action again. This summer, the Galaxy Battleship quietly changed its recruitment strategy in recent years, basically bid farewell to the former "Galaxy Battleship" model, and instead mass-absorbing young talents with great potential - Mastantono is their latest goal of hunting for beauty in South America.

This attacking midfielder has performed in River Plate in the past two seasons: he emerged as the youngest goalkeeper in the team history, and has attracted the attention of the world with his dazzling dribbling and sharp shooting skills.

Who is this young man? Where will he rise from and where will he go? He really has the ability to shine in La Liga? GOAL authors Tom Hindle and Sean Walsh analyzed the player.

Growth Trajectory

Young Mastantono faced the "difficulty" of sports choice. Born in Asul, a bustling town of 300 kilometers south of Buenos Aires, he has demonstrated his dual athletic talent since childhood. In his childhood, he competed in tennis and football fields at the same time, and both skills were proficient. The turning point of fate occurred when he was 10 years old.

Although Riverbed Youth Training Camp gave an olive branch, Mastantono declined the invitation because his family insisted on his tennis development and chose to continue football training at a local club. The turning point came in 2019: When the riverbed summoned again, the boy finally nodded. Although his youth training career was interrupted due to the epidemic, he quickly shone brightly after the restart of the Argentine League - swept the multi-level youth league scorer list and was selected into the Hep Clerk U17 echelon at the age of 15.

Breakthrough Moment

Since entering the youth training camp, Mastantono has been regarded as one of the most talented new stars in recent years, sharing the supernova title with Manchester City midfielder Echevelli. He continued to fight over the top. When he signed a two-year contract in August 2023, the 39.5 million termination fee set by He Piao shocked the football world - this pair of 16-year-old boys who have not yet appeared in the first team can be regarded as a sky-high price.

Rewards follow: coach Demi Kelis immediately recruited him to train with the first team, and gave him practical opportunities in the pre-season preparation stage. In the friendly match against Monterrey, Mexico and Pachuca, Mastantono made his informal debut, and in the Argentine Cup in January 2024, he ushered in his official debut.

The road to advancement

Since then, Mastantono continued to evolve.

In the Argentine Cup in February 2024, he won the victory with a wonderful volley, surpassing the record held by Saviola as the youngest goalkeeper in the team history.

Despite showing his strength, the attacker then went through several months of confusion. Demikelis did not give a stable playing time at first, which aroused strong dissatisfaction among fans - at that time, River Plate was struggling in the A-League. In the end, the team ended in fifth place in the 2024 season, Demikalis was dismissed and the club legend Galliado took over the coaching staff. Mastantono has been renewed to 2026.

2025 season became the year of youth explosion: he successfully entered the main lineup and fulfilled his talent. In April, River Plate defeated his old rival Boca Youth 2-1. He shot Gascoin's strange free kick that amazed the entire network, and then won the first call from the Argentine adult national team.

When he competed in the World Cup qualifiers with the World Cup championship, he made a 1-0 away victory over Chile, becoming the youngest official match player in the history of Argentina men's football team.

This summer, the battle for Mastantono has also entered a fierce momentum. New Champions League champion Paris Saint-Germain almost completed the signing, but Real Madrid finally intercepted the treasure for 40 million euros and brought the supernova to Madrid instead of Paris.

Core advantages

Mastantono's talent, you can feel it through the screen: the ball seems to be magic under his feet, and after completing the inward cut on the right, he can create murderous intent with his golden left foot.

He has a cunning dribble and quick stride frequency, and can always capture deadly pass routes in a small space, which is a source of creative threats - especially good at cracking dense defense. When the opponent retreats, his excellent shooting skills (especially long-range shooting) will cause multiple troubles. If you can continue to improve with a magical free kick like the national derby, no one can stop his attacking the third zone.

The room for improvement

Although there is endless potential, Mastantono's shortcomings are also obvious - his game style is still single. The tendency to rely too much on the left foot to cut inward makes him sometimes predict the trend by his opponent and will be deliberately guided by his opponent to use his weak feet.

Similar to most young talents, he also needs to strengthen his physique. The height of nearly 1.83 meters has not yet been transformed into a confrontation advantage, and the air scramble is often at a disadvantage. Playing for a La Liga ball-controlled team may be able to cover up Mastantono's shortcomings in this regard, but improving physical hardness will undoubtedly make the technology more perfect.

New Fordon?

In the big data model, Mastantono's breakthrough space, foot turn inward and ending methods are quite similar to Sobosloy when he was young, but it is necessary to pay attention to the differences between the two's usual foot, and the offense and defense balance of Liverpool's midfield is better. The more appropriate template is Manchester City Prince Foden: both of them have the super high skills and outstanding football IQ to easily get rid of their opponents in a small space, and their shooting posture also has an astonishing overlap. Although Mastantono insists that all childhood idols come from Argentina football, their similarity with Foden cannot be ignored.

Future Outlook

Bernabeu's summoning will allow Mastantono to join the legacy sequence of South American genius landing in Iberia. Real Madrid spared no expense to snatch people from Paris Saint-Germain, but the strict Spanish media would not show mercy because of their age - they asked Real Madrid's new players to have the power to fight.

But from historical experience: this young man needs to go through tempering to bloom. Vinicius and Rodrigo both struggled in the early days of their transition to Europe (although they have accumulated rich appearances in South America). Enderick, who joined last summer, has not proved himself and his future is already doubtful..

(Armour)