Corinthians capture De Federico

The diminutive 19-year-old forward has netted five league goals for Huracan since making his professional debut in 2007.

But it was in the recent Argentine Clausura championship that the starlet established himself as a regular alongside fellow prodigy Javier Pastore as Los Quemeros emerged as surprise table-toppers, only to be pipped at the post for the title by Velez Sarsfield.

De Federico - who has been labelled the 'New Messi' - recently impressed national team boss and national icon Diego Maradona on his international debut, netting a spectacular goal in a 3-1 friendly win against Panama.

But despite reports linking the teen sensation with moves to both Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, Brazilian giants Corinthians are set to win the race for the starlet's services, according to newspaper Lance.

The report claims that De Federico is currently awaiting the return of Corinthians president Andres Sanchez, who is travelling back from watching Brazil's friendly win in Estonia, to finalise the deal.

But Corinthians coach Mano Menezes has already expressed his delight at luring the Argentine prodigy across the border.

"De Federico is a left-footed midfielder, a very good player with lots of quality with the ball at his feet," he said.

"He can work in a similar formation to the one we have, but there can also be variations because he is a quality player.

"We have looked in the Argentine market because it is a market of very high quality."

Gregg Davies

Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.