Franco Mastantuono

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Franco Mastantuono
Franco Mastantuono in 2025 (cropped).jpg
Mastantuono in 2025
Personal information
Full name Franco Mastantuono
Date of birth (2007-08-14) 14 August 2007 (age 18)
Place of birth Azul, Argentina
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) [1]
Position(s) Midfielder, forward
Team information
Current team
 Real Madrid
Number 30
Youth career
2011–2018 River de Azul
2018–2019 Club Cemento
2019–2024 River Plate
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2024–2025 River Plate 45 (5)
2025– Real Madrid 3 (0)
International career‡
2022–2023 Argentina U17 9 (1)
2024– Argentina U20 12 (2)
2025– Argentina 3 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina
South American U-20 Championship
Runner-up 2025 Venezuela
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22:32, 30 August 2025 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 03:44, 10 September 2025 (UTC)

Franco Mastantuono (born 14 August 2007) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid and the Argentina national team.

Contents

Early life

Mastantuono was born and raised in Azul in the Buenos Aires Province of Argentina, into a family of Italian Argentine background. He took an interest in tennis as a younger child and was a national-level youth player, being ranked in the top 10 of his category. [2]

Club career

Early career

Mastantuono began his footballing career at the age of three, playing for River de Azul, where his father was the coach. [3] In 2017, while playing for River de Azul, he was invited to trial with professional side River Plate, but despite being offered a place in the academy, he declined, as his family wanted him to continue pursuing a career in tennis. [2] [3] Instead, he signed for Club Cemento at the age of eleven. [3]

River Plate

Two years later, in 2019, Mastantuono decided to take up River Plate's offer, and moved to the Buenos Aires-based club, making his first appearance for the youth side in their last game of the 2019 season, as the youth side won their respective league. [3] The following year, he was registered for AFA competitions, but his season was disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina. [4]

Mastantuono continued his progression through the River Plate academy, and in August 2023, he signed his first contract with the club – a two-year deal with a €30 million release clause. [5] The following month, he was called up to first-team training by manager Martín Demichelis for the first time. [6]

The following year, Mastantuono was included in River Plate's squad for their pre-season preparations, having been called up alongside a number of other youth team players by coach Martín Demichelis. [7] He made his unofficial debut for the club in a friendly match against Mexican opposition Monterrey, before featuring in another friendly against Pachuca. [8] At the end of January 2024, he became River Plate's third youngest ever player in official competitions, behind Omar Rossi and Mateo Musacchio, when he came on as a second-half substitute for Facundo Colidio in River's 1–1 Copa de la Liga Profesional draw with Argentinos Juniors. [9]

Mastantuono scored his first goal for the club in a 3–0 Copa Argentina win against Excursionistas on 8 February 2024; having started the game, he volleyed the ball past Excursionistas goalkeeper Nahuel Cajal in the 68th minute. In doing so, he became River's youngest ever goalscorer, beating the record held by club icon Javier Saviola. [10] Having established himself as a fixture in the first-team setup, calls from fans for Mastantuono to play more were ignored by coach Martín Demichelis, with former River Plate defender Reinaldo Merlo stating that, while he had shown his ability, he was not ready to feature regularly. [11] After Demichelis left Marcelo Gallardo took over giving him more minutes and making him featuring regularly. [12] In the Superclásico against Boca Juniors, Mastantuono scored a free kick from 28 meters out into the top left corner, making him the second youngest player to score in a Superclásico and River Plate's youngest to score in one. [13]

Real Madrid

On 13 June 2025, La Liga club Real Madrid announced that Mastantuono would join the club on his 18th birthday, 14 August, signing a six-year deal with Los Blancos. [14] The deal was worth €45 million, with Madrid triggering his release clause. [15] [16]

On 14 August 2025, Real Madrid officially presented Mastantuono. [17] [18] He was assigned the number 30 shirt, the same number he wore at his previous club. [19] He made his debut for Madrid on 19 August 2025, coming on as a substitute in a 1–0 victory over Osasuna. [20]

International career

Born in Argentina, Mastantuono is of Italian descent and holds dual Argentine-Italian citizenship. [21] He was first called up to the Argentina national under-17 team squad by manager Pablo Aimar while still only fifteen. [22] His impressive performances with the River Plate youth teams caught the attention of Argentina national under-20 team coach Javier Mascherano, who called him up to train with the team in mid-2022. [23]

In late May 2025, Mastantuono got his first call-up to the Argentina senior team by Lionel Scaloni for the 2026 World Cup qualifying games against Chile and Colombia. [24] A few days later, on 5 June, he made his international debut by replacing Thiago Almada in a 1–0 away victory over Chile, becoming his country's youngest official debutant at 17 years and 296 days old, surpassing the previous record held by Adolfo Heisinger. [25]

Style of play

A left-footed midfielder, Mastantuono was described by River Plate youth coach Martín Pellegrino as a being capable of playing as an enganche, a play-making midfielder or a forward, noting his ball-striking ability. [3] River Plate reserve team assistant manager, Pablo Fernández, has also lauded his ball-striking, as well as his ability to score from free-kicks and beat players one-on-one. [3] Mastantuono himself has stated that he looks up to River Plate forwards Ignacio Fernández and Matías Suárez, as well as fellow Argentine Julián Alvarez and the likes of Phil Foden and Neymar, and tries to model his style of play on them. [3]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 30 August 2025 [26]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational cup [a] ContinentalOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
River Plate 2024 Argentine Primera División 331117 [b] 100413
2025 Argentine Primera División124116 [b] 24 [c] 0237
Total45522133406410
Real Madrid 2025–26 La Liga 3000000030
Career total48522133406710
  1. ↑ Includes Copa Argentina, Copa del Rey
  2. 1 2 Appearances in Copa Libertadores
  3. ↑ One appearance in Supercopa Internacional, three appearances in FIFA Club World Cup

International

As of match played 9 September 2025 [26]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Argentina 202530
Total30

Honours

River Plate

References

  1. ↑ Franco Mastantuono at WorldFootball.net
  2. 1 2 Blotto, Martín (20 June 2023). "La historia de Franco Mastantuono, la otra joyita de la cantera de River" [The story of Franco Mastantuono, the other jewel of River's youth academy]. ole.com.ar (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 November 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gagliardi, Juan Franco (23 August 2023). "Quién es Franco Mastantuono, la joya que River Plate blindó por una millonaria cifra y está en la mira de Demichelis y Mascherano" [Who is Franco Mastantuono, the jewel that River Plate protected for a millionaire figure and is in the sights of Demichelis and Mascherano]. infobae.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 25 April 2024. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  4. ↑ Kunz, Ubaldo (23 August 2023). "La increíble historia de Franco Mastantuono: la joya de River que casi deja el fútbol por el tenis" [The incredible story of Franco Mastantuono: the jewel of River who almost left football for tennis]. lapaginamillonaria.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  5. ↑ "Franco Mastantuono: la nueva joya de River que firmó su primer contrato y fue blindado con una cláusula de 30 millones de euros" [Franco Mastantuono: River's new jewel who signed his first contract and was protected with a clause of 30 million euros]. lanacion.com.ar (in Spanish). 23 August 2023. Archived from the original on 14 December 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  6. ↑ Kunz, Ubaldo (29 September 2023). "No lo tenía nadie: Mastantuono entrenó con la Primera de River" [No one had it: Mastantuono trained with River's Primera]. lapaginamillonaria.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 November 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  7. ↑ "Franco Mastantuono, a días de comenzar la pretemporada con el plantel profesional de River" [Franco Mastantuono, days away from starting the preseason with River's professional team]. diarioeltiempo.com.ar (in Spanish). 3 January 2024. Archived from the original on 16 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  8. ↑ García, Gonzalo (31 January 2024). "Quién es Franco Mastantuono, la nueva joya de River que en la pretemporada y debutó oficialmente ante Argentinos Juniors" [Who is Franco Mastantuono, River's new jewel who made his official debut against Argentinos Juniors in the preseason]. goal.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 16 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  9. ↑ "Mastantuono debutó en River e hizo historia" [Mastantuono debuted in River and made history]. ole.com.ar (in Spanish). 28 January 2024. Archived from the original on 16 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  10. ↑ Marroquín, Emmanuel R. (8 February 2024). "Gol de Franco Mastantuono lo convierte el jugador de River Plate más joven en anotar" [Franco Mastantuono's goal makes him the youngest River Plate player to score]. tudn.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 16 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  11. ↑ "Sin vueltas: "Mastantuono no está para 90 minutos"" [No twists: "Mastantuono is not there for 90 minutes"]. tntsports.com.ar (in Spanish). 15 February 2024. Archived from the original on 16 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  12. ↑ Olé, Diario Deportivo (11 November 2024). "Que la gente crezca: el plan de Gallardo para gestionar el talento de Mastantuono". Olé (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  13. ↑ Barnade, Oscar (27 April 2025). "Franco Mastantuono hizo un gol de antología y para los libros del Superclásico: es el goleador de River más joven contra Boca en la historia". Clarín (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  14. ↑ "Official Announcement: Mastantuono". Real Madrid CF. 13 June 2025. Archived from the original on 13 June 2025. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  15. ↑ "Ejecución de cláusula de rescisión – Franco Mastantuono" [Execution of the release clause – Franco Mastantuono] (in Spanish). Club Atlético River Plate. 13 June 2025. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  16. ↑ Millington, Adam (13 June 2025). "Franco Mastantuono: Real Madrid sign Argentina record breaker from River Plate". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 13 June 2025. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  17. ↑ "Mastantuono signs his Real Madrid contract". Real Madrid CF. 14 August 2025. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  18. ↑ Langell, Amanda (14 August 2025). "Franco Mastantuono's Surprising Real Madrid Shirt Number Confirmed". Sports Illustrated . Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  19. ↑ "Mastantuono unveiled as new Real Madrid player". Real Madrid CF. 14 August 2025. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  20. ↑ "Real Madrid 1–0 Osasuna: Mbappe penalty gives Alonso unconvincing win". fotmob.com. 14 August 2025. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  21. ↑ "Chi è Franco Mastantuono: il sedicenne da 45 milioni di euro nel mirino del Real Madrid | Goal.com Italia". goal.com. 7 May 2024. Archived from the original on 24 December 2024. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  22. ↑ Casazza, Gabriel (21 February 2023). "¿Quién es Franco Mastantuono, la joya que ilusiona a todos los hinchas de River?" [Who is Franco Mastantuono, the jewel that excites all River fans?]. bolavip.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  23. ↑ Gagliardi, Juan Franco (7 September 2022). "Tiene 15 años, es una de las joyas de River Plate y Javier Mascherano lo convocó a la Selección Sub 20" [He is 15 years old, he is one of the jewels of River Plate and Javier Mascherano called him up to the Under 20 National Team]. mundoalbiceleste. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  24. ↑ "Franco Mastantuono called up to Argentina squad and he'll share the pitch with Lionel Messi". beinsports.com. 31 May 2025. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  25. ↑ "Franco Mastantuono debutó con la Selección Argentina e hizo historia" (in Spanish). ESPN Deportes. 5 June 2025. Archived from the original on 6 June 2025. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  26. 1 2 Franco Mastantuono at Soccerway . Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  27. ↑ "River derrotó 2–1 a Estudiantes y es el campeón de la Supercopa Argentina 2023". Asociación del Fútbol Argentino (in Spanish). 12 March 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
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