the hot sun beat down over buenos aires as the scouts sat in the stands of the estadio jose amalfitani squinting at the green pitch below the noise of the crowd was a deep constant roar full of old men with weathered faces waving their flags teenagers in cheap replica shirts jumping and chanting little kids on their fathers’ shoulders eyes wide at their heroes but up in the seats the men in expensive shirts were not watching like fans they were watching like hawks
they had names you’d know city football group emissaries men who worked for the global empire that owned manchester city and half a dozen other clubs scattered like chess pieces around the planet they sat beside river plate’s top men they shared bottles of water polite nods knowing smiles because they weren’t enemies no this time they were partners or about to be
below them on the grass a teenager was running like his life depended on it maher carrizo 19 years old playing for velez sarsfield wiry but strong sharp-eyed every move precise he was the reason the scouts were here and he knew it he played like he was auditioning for his future because he was
the crowd didn’t know the full story they only saw another talented kid in argentina a country that seemed to grow them like weeds the country that had given the world maradona messi alvarez and now maybe carrizo but up in the stands the men from city football group were already talking numbers strategies because this wasn’t just football this was business big business
city football group had a plan a model you could call it a machine even they had been running it for years hunting the best young south american talents bringing them into their empire shaping them selling some for big profit sending others to manchester city itself the jewel in the crown it had worked beautifully before julian alvarez was proof the kid who’d started at river plate lit up the argentine league won the world cup went to city and scored goals that made defenders cry and fans scream for more
then there was claudio echeverri another river plate prodigy signed before europe’s sharks could snatch him up everyone who watched him said the same thing magical feet cool head made for big games city’s fans couldn’t wait to see him in sky blue and the business side was just as pleased river plate got money city got a star everyone won
so now it was happening again the machine was humming velez sarsfield’s directors had made it clear carrizo wouldn’t leave without his release clause being paid 16 million dollars not a peso less city football group weren’t fools they didn’t want to overpay but they also knew talent when they saw it they knew this wasn’t some gamble this was a boy who could be alvarez all over again
the journalists had gotten wind of it all german garcia grova was first to spill the beans river plate wanted carrizo badly but couldn’t afford the clause alone so they went to city football group with a proposition let’s team up you pay the fee we get him here on loan you get the rights the plan was almost elegant in its simplicity river plate would be the finishing school city football group the bank and eventually manchester city the grand stage
and why wouldn’t river plate agree they’d done this dance before they knew the benefits it wasn’t just the money it was the promise of developing these kids properly giving them the right games the right training the right pressure river plate was proud of what they’d done with alvarez and echeverri and they wanted to do it again with carrizo
so negotiations began in hotel rooms and boardrooms in buenos aires and manchester in late-night calls and encrypted messages they argued over percentages sell-on clauses loan lengths where the boy would stay where he’d train when he’d go to europe whether he’d be guaranteed minutes all the tiny details that made the difference between a good deal and a disaster
but the plan was clear from the city football group’s perspective they weren’t buying a player they were buying time and development they knew the kid wasn’t ready for the etihad not yet throwing him into the premier league would be suicide the english defenders would eat him alive the pace would drown him so they wanted him to grow at river plate under the lights of the monumental in front of fans who lived and died for every game because that was the real test could he handle the pressure the noise the expectation
that was the genius of the model city football group didn’t just buy players they bought development pipelines they bought partners they invested in local clubs and local coaches who knew how to polish rough diamonds they weren’t just rich they were smart they weren’t just european they were global they understood the power of south american football and they weren’t afraid to use it
meanwhile in manchester the news trickled out in whispers at first then louder fans debated on forums over pints in pubs in group chats who was this kid was he any good was this just another cynical business move or the next superstar they remembered alvarez with love but also remembered other south americans who hadn’t made it they wanted to believe but they needed proof
some fans loved it they loved the ambition the idea of city unearthing the next messi while united spent stupid money on overhyped stars they imagined carrizo arriving in three years scoring hat-tricks against liverpool sending old trafford into silence they dreamed because that’s what football fans do
others were more cautious they worried about the ethics of these deals they said it felt like farming young talent for profit they asked if city even needed more forwards they pointed to the academy wondering when local kids would get a chance they weren’t wrong either the debate wasn’t simple it never is
but none of that mattered to carrizo himself because he was living it for him this wasn’t about politics or business models this was his life he’d grown up in the suburbs where football was a religion where the ball was the only thing that mattered where you played on dirt pitches until your feet bled he’d dreamed of europe of the champions league anthem of wearing the shirt of a club where the best players in the world played now he was on the verge of it
he wasn’t naive he knew what it meant being part of city football group meant you were an asset but also meant you got the best coaching the best facilities the best chance he’d seen what happened to alvarez he wanted that he wanted the big games the medals the glory he wanted to score in a manchester derby and hear the roar he wanted to be someone
so he trained like a madman he watched his diet he studied games he stayed after training to work on his weaker foot he did interviews where he said all the right things humble but confident thanking his family his coaches his teammates he wasn’t going to let this slip away not now not when he was so close
meanwhile the suits kept working velez sarsfield wanted their money river plate wanted their player city football group wanted their future star they haggled they argued they drew up contracts in legal spanish and english they calculated taxes and fees and who would pay the agent and how it would be announced because even that mattered in the modern game
and all the while the world watched maybe not everyone but the people who knew the ones who worked in football who understood that this was the future of transfers big clubs teaming up with local giants to sign kids before they were even fully grown then sending them around the world like chess pieces until they were ready for the big time
back in manchester pep guardiola watched too not every day not personally but he got reports he saw clips he asked his scouts what they thought he wasn’t just thinking about next week’s game he was thinking about two years from now three years he knew alvarez had been worth every penny he wanted another one
and it wasn’t just carrizo on his mind the club had other young talents to manage claudio echeverri might go on loan himself maybe back to argentina maybe somewhere else james mcatee was drawing interest from the bundesliga should he stay or go every decision was a balancing act between development and immediate needs between dreams and reality
because city’s squad was stacked but aging they needed fresh blood not just for depth but for evolution pep didn’t want to get stale he didn’t want the team to get old together he wanted to keep winning forever and that meant planning forever
so as july dragged on the deal moved closer the papers were almost ready carrizo kept playing trying not to think about the money changing hands over his head the fans kept arguing hoping dreaming the journalists kept sniffing for details and in the offices of city football group they smiled because they knew this was what they did best
finding the kid nobody else would pay 16 million for betting on him trusting the process shaping him then one day unveiling him at the etihad as the next great hope of manchester city
