Manchester City have had a number of unsuccessful loan moves this season. Sverre Nypan, Jahmai Simpson-Pusey and Claudio Echeverri all needed something new in the January transfer window because of a lack of game time they were getting at the clubs they have moved to in summer.
Nypan is back at the Etihad training with Pep Guardiola and the first team, although he did not make the matchday squad for the FA Cup game against Salford. Simpson-Pusey has already played more matches for FC Koln in the Bundesliga than he managed for Celtic, including a home debut against Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich.
Then there is Echeverri, who made his City debut as a substitute in the FA Cup Final last season and started in the Club World Cup for City before suffering an injury that ruled him out of the rest of the tournament. There were high hopes for and lots of interest in a young midfielder who wanted to earn a spot in Argentina’s squad for the World Cup this summer, but while City thought Girona was his best option he moved to Leverkusen on the recommendation of his team.
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It looked too good to be true when he was unveiled as their No.9 and seen as a potential replacement for Florian Wirtz, and so it proved. He barely got a kick under not one but two different managers and the loan was terminated before the winter window had even opened.
It took some haggling to get Echeverri to Girona, with the City Football Group club having to move on another of their non-EU players to be able to register the 20-year-old. However, they had badly wanted him at the start of the season so were willing to rip up their plans for him.
Echeverri is yet to start for his new side but has played in the last four games off the bench – a longer consecutive run than he managed in Germany. He came on to face Barcelona on Monday evening with the score at 1-1 and played an important role in the winning goal that sunk the title challengers and local rivals.
“It was a difficult few months in Germany, I had a really tough time,” Echeverri told DAZN after the win. “Now I’m here, happy, trying to get back to the form I was sold to Manchester City for. I’m very happy.”
After a ropey start to their season, Girona have stabilised – in no small part due to young City defender Vitor Reis on loan – and the three points pulls them five points clear of the relegation zone and into 12th in the table. There is still work to do but the signs are that Girona can secure another season of top-flight football in Spain.
The indicators are looking positive for Echeverri again, who is starting to show what he can do when he gets a stretch of games and will look to earn starts to make even more progress. The Leverkusen move quickly became a mistake but it looks to have started being corrected.
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