Another River gem, headed to the Premier League: Claudio Caniggia negotiates with Chelsea for the transfer of Ian Subiabre

The Premier League is today the Mecca of football . It is the league par excellence, where the most important figures are and where elite players aspire to go. As happened with the Serie A in Italy in the 80s and 90s, or with the Spanish League in the 2000s. And that is where the course of River's jewels seems to be marked.

It has already happened with Julián Álvarez, Enzo Fernández and Claudio Echeverri and in a short time, it could be the turn of Franco Mastantuono and Ian Subiabre . The left-footer from Azul -as we know- is being eyed by Manchester City and Liverpool. And in the last few hours it has been revealed that Chelsea have set their sights on the forward from Chubut.

Claudio Paul Caniggia , former striker for the Argentine National Team, recently became Subiabre's representative, and is in London to meet with Chelsea executives who were impressed by the River striker's excellent performance in the South American Under 20 Championship.

This interest from Chelsea comes from the recommendation of Alisson Marins , the English team's scout in South America, who highlighted the River striker in a list that includes the 10 most outstanding talents on the continent.

Although there has not yet been any contact between the clubs for the transfer of the 1.72 metre youngster, Núñez has no interest in parting with one of its most valuable jewels . Because of this, and in case Chelsea seek to go all out for Subiabre, London will have to make an offer close to Ian Subiabre's termination clause, which is 30 million euros, or directly execute it. In turn, it must be taken into account that the 18-year-old boy born in Comodoro Rivadavia on January 1, 2007, has a contract with River until December 31, 2026.

The fact that Subiabre is in Chelsea's orbit is directly linked to the fact that the 18-year-old played a great South American tournament. He scored three goals in the eight games he played , and was one of the most important weapons of the team led by Diego Placente , since with his dribbles and changes of pace he gave a lot of play to the attack of the Argentine youth team. Something similar happened to him as with Echeverri, who had had a great Under-17 World Cup and after that tournament, City accelerated their move for him.

Although Subiabre has already made his debut in Primera, he has only played four games for River in which he played 63 minutes, all under the technical direction of Martín Demichelis . And he has already gained experience in the Reserve, a division in which he was one of the figures of the team that was crowned champion at the end of last year 2024. Now, Marcelo Gallardo will have him in mind and he has already shown it by taking him to the substitute bench in San Juan against San Martín, days after the kid's return from the South American Championship in Venezuela.

The possibility of Subiabre playing in England in the short term also comes from a door opened by Julián Álvarez when he was transferred to Manchester City in 2022. And although he is now at Atlético de Madrid, where he was sold last year, the world champion striker had made enough merits to continue in Pep Guardiola's team. Meanwhile, Enzo Fernández quickly arrived in the Premier League after playing six months at Benfica. After his time at the Portuguese team, he landed at Chelsea, who paid a fortune for him (121 million euros).

And then it was Echeverri's turn. El Diablito was acquired by City at the beginning of last year and spent the entire 2024 on loan at River. Now, after participating in the South American Under-20, the Chaco native will join the training sessions with Guardiola's team.