Who is Franco Mastantuono? Real Madrid's target from River Plate

According to sources, Los Blancos are reportedly the front-runners to sign 16-year-old Mastantuono, an attacking midfielder for River Plate, as they attempt to implement the Endrick formula. They will probably employ the same strategy that they employed to entice the young player, which is to sign him now and hold him for a further year at his present club before transferring him to Madrid.

Although Mastantuono's contract has a release clause that the Argentine powerhouses apparently want to raise to €45 million, Real Madrid is still optimistic that they can buy him for the existing fee of €25 million. The Spanish champions instructed Santiago Solari, their director of football, to negotiate with the Argentine team and finish the agreement as quickly as possible in their favor.

This year, Mastantuono earned his senior professional debut. Through 21 games in all competitions, he has three goals and one assist this season.  

Which players are in the USA as part of Real Madrid’s pre-season tour?

Goalkeepers: Courtois, Lunin and Fran González*.

Defenders: Militão*, Vallejo, Jacobo Ramón*, Lorenzo, Obrador, Fran García, Rüdiger, Asencio Lucas Vázquez, and Joan Martínez.

Midfielders: Luka Modrić, Nico Paz, Mario Martín, Palacios, Arda Güler, Ceballos, and Jeremy de León.

Attackers: Vini Jr.*, Rodrygo*, Endrick, Brahim, Latasa and Álvaro Rodríguez

On Sunday night, Real Madrid landed in Chicago to start their preseason campaign in the US. Madrid announced the players who travelled, indicating that more players will be added to the roster in the coming days.

Preseason action is underway for Carlo Ancelotti's team in the United States. On Wednesday, they take on AC Milan in a friendly at Soldier Field in Chicago. Important players like Dani Carvajal, Ferland Mendy, Aurelien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga, and Kylian Mbappe won't be in the team until Real Madrid returns to the Spanish capital, thus they won't be present for any of the next friendlies played in the United States.

Real Madrid finished 2023–2024 with three trophies under their belts, and their achievement cannot be attributed to anything other than the club's summer preparations.