Departing River Plate whizkid Franco Mastantuono admits a chat with Xabi Alonso helped convince him about an early move to Real Madrid.
Having initially planned to join Real at the end of the calendar year, the 17 year-old midfielder will now sign for Real immediately after the Club World Cup.
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Mastantuono admits speaking with Xabi was enough to bring forward his plans.
"How he talked to me was incredible and I really appreciated it," he told DAZN.
"The talk had a lot of influence because the fact that the coach loves you is an important vote of confidence for a player. Leaving a club like River is not easy and his words motivated me a lot to take that leap."
The youngster added, "Playing for Madrid is a dream, I don't need to say in words what that club is, we all know it. It is a new challenge in my life, a very nice challenge."