In a recent interview with the media, River Plate executives discussed the sale of Argentine midfielder Franco Mastantuono to Real Madrid this summer.
Mastantuono became the most expensive player in Argentine league history this summer. His €45 million release clause broke the previous records: €32 million paid by Benfica to River Plate for Enzo Fernández and €28 million paid by Barcelona for Javier Saviola.
However, the departure of this talented player left a bitter aftertaste at the Monumental Stadium. "We always emphasized we wouldn’t sell him, and we really didn’t take the initiative to do so—Real Madrid directly activated the release clause. Keeping him would have been a perfect ending, but things didn’t go our way; that’s the rule of football," River Plate executive Stefano Di Carlo admitted in an interview with La Red radio. The candidate expected to be elected River Plate’s new president noted, "Signing that contract two years ago was already a major achievement. This deal ranks among the top three in Latin American transfer history... but in hindsight, letting Mastantuono go for €45 million was still a fire sale."
"The operation cycle of the European transfer market is out of sync with ours. When they strengthen squads for multi-competition campaigns, they often break up the teams we’ve painstakingly built." However, River Plate under Di Carlo has found a new strategy to curb the brain drain. Juan Bautista Dardín was the first to test it: the club renewed the second-team striker’s contract until 2028 and set a $100 million (about €90 million) release clause—the highest in Argentine football history.
This "Mastantuono Clause" has become a standard for all new signings and contract extensions at River Plate. "Its purpose is to break the situation where release clauses are activated unilaterally. When the other party has to pay $100 million, they have to sit down and negotiate with you," Di Carlo explained. Currently, River Plate’s "100-Million-Dollar Club" includes over a dozen players such as former Mallorca player Alex Voitsky, Ian Subiabre, Lautaro Rivero, and Facundo Colidio. Santiago Lencina, who is about to renew his contract, will also join—this "anti-Mastantuono Clause" is becoming a new trend at River Plate.
