Franco Mastantuono arrives at Madrid: will his salary spark a new ego war?

Franco Mastantuono will join the Real Madrid squad next weekend. The Argentine is one of the bets that the club has made for this season and hopes that it will give immediate results. Not in vain, the 'Casa Blanca' paid 63 million euros for his transfer, a large sum of money for a footballer of only 17 years old.

In that sense, one of the most striking aspects of the incorporation of the Azul player will be his salary. Mastantuono would be receiving 3.5 million euros net per year in his first season, tripling his emoluments at River Plate, although he was one of the best paid footballers in the squad of the Argentine team.

Mastantuono's salary: More fuel to the fire in the Madrid squad?

However, he is one of the players who will earn the least in the white club, in rungs will be below Endrick, who earns 4.1 million euros per year. The Brazilian, however, aims to leave on loan, as Xabi Alonso prefers Gonzalo García as '9' substitute for Kylian Mbappé.

Thus, Mastantuono's salary can add more fuel to the fire to a squad clearly divided by egos and the financial gap. 'Kiki' became the highest paid player in the club after his signing last summer.

This situation has strained the rope with Vinicius Jr., who now demands to match his emoluments with the Frenchman to renew. Other stars of the 'merengue' squad, such as Jude Bellingham, also expect to have rising salaries. Otherwise, the board runs the risk of dealing with cases like that of Rodrygo.

The '11' has felt marginalized by the club with respect to his teammates in attack (Vini and Mbappé) and, now, is a fixed discard of the new coach and lacks 'top' offers to try his luck in another big team.

With Franco Mastantuono, Madrid is betting on his remarkable projection so that he can take over the side. Martín Pellegrino, coach of the lower categories of River Plate, describes the Argentine midfielder as a player with a good shot and creator of the game.

In addition, he can play as a playmaker. In the Buenos Aires team he played 64 games in which he scored 10 goals and distributed 8 assists before making the leap to LaLiga. His debut could take place on matchday 1 against Osasuna, as the player will turn 18 next Thursday, August 18, one day before the official start of the 25/26 season.

Julián Álvarez is the highest paid Argentine in LaLiga EA Sports

River Plate has been characterized by training good footballers and listing them at a good price in Europe. This is the case of Mastantuono, but also of Julián Álvarez. The ‘Araña’, who currently plays for Atlético de Madrid, is the highest paid Argentine player in Spain, receiving a net salary of 8.3 million euros, according to ‘FootyStats’.

In contrast, Claudio Echeverri, another player trained in the 'millionaire' team, left the red band to go to Manchester City, earning only 900,000 net euros per season, according to ‘Catology’.

On his 18th birthday, on August 14, Mastantuono will arrive in Valdebebas to begin an era dressed in white, where he will wear the number '25', which was used at some point by Vinicius, Eduardo Camavinga and Rodrygo. His link with Real Madrid is until 2031.

The '25', in fact, was not only used by field players, it was also worn by goalkeepers, as was the case of Kepa Arrizabalaga, Thibaut Courtois and Iker Casillas, the latter captain and 'merengue' legend and of the National Team.