
Some countries and clubs have a reputation for producing top talent, and they have become go-to places to sign players on Football Manager. Argentina is a great market to shop in when it comes to signing players.
One of the South American country’s biggest clubs, River Plate, has been a goldmine for signing players in Championship Manager and Football Manager. Here are just some of our favourite River Plate players we have signed over the years:
Javier Saviola

The forward is famous for being a must-have signing in Championship Manager 99/00. At the beginning of the game, Saviola is just 17, but his stats are so ridiculously high that every club in the game is trying to sign him.
If you are lucky enough to nab the wonderkid for a relatively small fee from River Plate, he goes on to be a world-beater for you, scoring goal after goal. For most CM 99/00 players, he is a legend of the game.
Unfortunately, his real-life career didn’t quite match his Championship Manager exploits, as although he played for some of the biggest clubs in the game, such as Barcelona, Real Madrid and Benfica, he is considered to be a player who massively underachieved in his career.
Javier Mascherano
Before he was a star at West Ham, Liverpool and Barcelona, the versatile Argentinian international was a bright young prospect at River Plate. I can’t be sure if it was CM03/04 or Championship Manager 5 in which I signed a teenage Mascherano, but whichever it was, he would go on to fulfil his potential spectacularly in the game.
As with most players signed from River, he cost a bargain fee and would serve the team with distinction. In the game, he was still just a central midfielder before his conversion to a centre-back later in his real-life career.
Exequiel Palacios
The central midfielder was another one of my favourite signings from River Plate. Palacios was a wonderkid in FM18, I believe. For me, he turned out to be one of the signings of the game.
Like many of the other players on our list, Palacios’ fee belied his outstanding attributes. As he was a youngster, he tended to have a release clause in his contract, which was below £10m when I signed him.
He would sometimes take a while to settle, but once he did, he developed brilliantly and became one of the best midfielders in the world. He would either become a key player for your team or be sold on for a big profit, and you could reinvest the money in your team.
After being linked with several European clubs, Palacios finally got his move to the European game in 2020, when German outfit Bayer Leverkusen signed him for a fee in the region of £17m. In season 2023/24, he helped Die Werself complete an unbeaten campaign in the Bundesliga and claim their maiden German title.
Franco Armani
This may feel like a less glamorous choice, but Franco Armani was a highly useful signing in both FM18 and FM19. He was a solid, experienced goalkeeper who wouldn’t let you down. The Argentinian international would cost less than £5m generally, which for a reliable goalkeeper was a decent price.
In real life, he only joined River Plate in the winter January transfer window of 2018, having spent the previous eight years of his career in Colombia with Atletico Nacional. In 2018, Armani earned his maiden call-up to the national team. He went on to make 19 appearances for La Albiceleste before retiring in 2024.
Julian Alvarez
Before he became a relative household name at Manchester City, Football Manager players were already well aware of the burgeoning talents of a young forward called Julian Alvarez.
I first remember signing Alvarez in FM19. At the time, he was just 18 years old. He could play any attacking midfield role and was also a central forward.
The most incredible aspect of Alvarez in FM19 was that he could be bought at the beginning of the game for less than £3m, sometimes even less than £2m.
Alvarez is certainly nowhere near the player he would become in later editions on FM19 or, indeed, in real life. However, he is still a player who is well worth having.
In real life, Alvarez joined Manchester City in the winter transfer window of 2022 for what turned out to be a bargain fee of £14m. It was in the same year that Alvarez won the World Cup with Argentina. In the summer of 2024, he made a move to Spanish giants Atletico Madrid for a fee of around £81.8m.
Claudio Echeverri
The 18-year-old is the latest in a very long line of talented players to come from the River Plate production line. The highly-rated young attacker made his FM debut in FM23.
He became one of the potential superstars of the game and one of the best attacking players when I signed him. He wasn’t cheap to sign, but he could be bought for around £17m. The fee was worth it, as his value would be far more after just a couple of seasons.
Unfortunately, in January 2024, reigning English champions Manchester City signed the youngster for an undisclosed fee, reported in sections of the media as £25m. He starts FM24 on loan back at River Plate.
Signing him from Manchester City in a permanent deal could prove to be a tricky and expensive endeavour. However, he may well be available to sign on loan when he returns from his loan spell back in his homeland.
Who are your favourite signings from River Plate on Football Manager?