Man City face unwanted January transfer call as Champions League reunion looms

Claudio Echeverri has made a positive impression at Manchester City but his loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen hasn't gone to plan so far.

Bayer Leverkusen has been a popular destination for promising young footballers in the past couple of seasons, but the timing might be working against Manchester City teenager Claudio Echeverri.

The 2023/24 Bundesliga champions accelerated the careers of plenty of players during Xabi Alonso's successful tenure, not least the Liverpool duo of Jeremie Frimpong and Florian Wirtz.

But it has been a summer of change at the BayArena and having recently been a breeding ground for top players, the challenges of thriving for the Bundesliga side have become considerably more difficult.

When he joined Leverkusen in August, Echeverri looked like a potential Wirtz replacement. The club's sporting director, Simon Rolfes, handed him the No. 9 shirt and told him he was the kind of player who made fans want to go to games.

“Claudio Echeverri is a technically gifted, energetic player who is very dynamic between the lines from where he poses a threat,” said Rolfes.

“A classy footballer – very good at dribbling, direct going forwards and always able to bring his teammates into play positively."

It's the kind of verdict that Pep Guardiola would agree with. He handed the 19-year-old Argentine an English debut as a substitute in the FA Cup final and then hailed him as "an incredible player in the small spaces" after he scored against Al-Ahli in the Club World Cup.

An ankle injury sustained in the first half of that game ruled him out of the rest of the tournament, but there was excitement at seeing how he would do at a top-five club playing in the Champions League, with a place in City's first-team squad next season up for grabs.

It probably shouldn't come as a surprise that it has been a struggle. Alonso's replacement, Erik ten Hag, was sacked after just two games in charge, and he was replaced by former Denmark boss Kasper Hjulmand.

That was a change for Echeverri, who had been signed on Ten Hag's watch, even if German clubs tend to use their sporting director to set transfer strategy.

The former River Plate youngster played 35 minutes in Ten Hag's two games in charge, but has found action even harder to come by under Hjulmand. Echeverri has been an unused sub in three of his four Bundesliga games in charge and played just 14 minutes of the 1-1 draw with Borussia Monchengladbach.

In the Champions League, he got 23 minutes against FC Copenhagen, registering an assist, and then 10 minutes against PSV Eindhoven. A total of 82 minutes of competitive football by this stage of the season is not what City or Echeverri would have been hoping for.

"I want to get a lot of minutes on the pitch and develop into an even better player week by week," he said on completing that loan move.

There is still time for his circumstances to change, although the fact that Hjulmand is unbeaten in his six games in charge suggests major team changes are unlikely at the moment.

One date circled on the calendar is Tuesday, November 25. That is when Bayer Leverkusen face City at the Etihad, and UEFA rules mean Echeverri will be available. At the moment, the question is how big a part he will play.

City will want him to develop this season and that means exposure to games in the Bundesliga and the Champions League. If that continues to be an issue, then they might well have to consider recalling Echeverri in the January transfer window and looking at alternative options.