City signs highly-rated Argentina prospect Perrone
Manchester City has completed the signing of highly rated Argentina youth international Maximo Perrone from Velez Sarsfield.
The 20-year-old is reported to have cost City £8million initially and has signed a deal that runs through June 2028.
Perrone only made his breakthrough at Velez last March, but the central midfielder quickly established himself as a prominent part of the senior team, even wearing the captain's armband on occasion.
His contract had entered its final year, and although City are said to be paying more than his reported £7m release clause, that was sure to be significantly higher if Velez did manage to secure his future into 2024.
Perrone is the latest in a string of exports to fetch Velez a considerable fee in the past six years, with Thiago Almada, Matias Vargas, Santiago Caseres, Maxi Romero and Nicolas Dominguez bringing in roughly £47m between them.
He is City's second recruit from Argentina over the past year, with Julian Alvarez joining from River Plate at the end of last season.
Alvarez was signed midway through last term before spending a period back on loan at River, though no such agreement has been struck for Perrone.
He will link up with City immediately once his participation at the Under-20 South American Championship in Colombia is over.
Perrone scored in Argentina's opening match but was unable to prevent his side losing 2-1 to Paraguay.
Argentina's final group game is on January 27 – if they are not eliminated, Perrone will likely join up with City in February.
