MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid struck a deal to sign River Plate midfielder Franco Mastantuono for the next six seasons, the Spanish club said Friday, in what will be a record transfer for Argentine soccer.
Madrid said that the 17-year-old Mastantuono will join in August, meaning he will play for River at the Club World Cup. Madrid is also set to play the tournament in the United States.
Mastantuono is Madrid’s third signing of the off-season after adding defenders Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen.
Mastantuono, who was a promising tennis player before he committed to soccer, became Argentina's youngest debutant when he came off the bench last week in the national team’s 1-0 victory over Chile in a 2026 World Cup qualifier.
He scored four goals and provided two assists for River in the first part of the Argentinian league this season, including a goal from a free kick to help beat fierce rival Boca Juniors.
River said that Madrid triggered Mastantuono's buyout clause of 63 million euros ($72 million), making it the most expensive transfer in the history of Argentine soccer. River will earn 45 million euros, with the rest going to taxes and fees.
Madrid is trying to reload under new coach Xabi Alonso after losing their Spanish and Champions League titles last season.
That includes moving on without midfield great Luka Modric, who will leave Madrid after the Club World Cup.
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FILE - Franco Mastantuono of Argentina's River Plate celebrates after scoring from the penalty spot his side's third goal against Ecuador's Independiente del Valle during a Copa Libertadores Group B soccer match at the Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello, File)
A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.
A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.
Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.
For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.
The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”
Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.
Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)
