New Real Madrid signing Franco Mastantuono has said a conversation with coach Xabi Alonso convinced him to join the club.
Madrid confirmed earlier this month that playmaker Mastantuono will join them in August when he turns 18, after agreeing a six-year contract.
For now, Mastantuono is with River Plate at the Club World Cup -- where he's started both the Argentinian side's games so far -- as they prepare to play Inter in Seattle on Wednesday.
"The way [Alonso] spoke to me was incredible," Mastantuono said, in an interview with DAZN. "I'm grateful to him for it, for the way he was with me. Our talk influenced me a lot.
"If the coach wants you, it's a vote of confidence for a player. Leaving a big club like River isn't easy, so his words motivated me a lot to take that leap."
River youth product Mastantuono is already a record-breaker, as the youngest scorer in the club's history, and the youngest debutant in the history of the Argentina national team.
Madrid beat Paris Saint-Germain to the teenager's signing, moving fast to wrap up a deal having tracked the player for the last two years.
He was Madrid's third signing this summer, after Dean Huijsen and Trent Alexander-Arnold, but wanted to play for River at the Club World Cup before joining the LaLiga giants.
"We all know what [Real Madrid] is," Mastantuono said. "It's a dream to play there. It's a nice challenge for me.
"For me, Real Madrid are the biggest club in the world, the team that's won the most [trophies] in Europe. Any player would want to play there. It's a dream, I want to enjoy it."
Alonso has described Mastantuono as "a boy with a fantastic present and an incredible future."
"The maturity he has on the field, he brings off the field too," Alonso said last week. "When I spoke to him I saw his ambition, his maturity.
"In August he'll be with us, and he'll be an important addition to the squad."