Exequiel Palacios will be Real Madrid's first January signing LaLiga Santander An agreement has been reached

Exequiel Palacios will be Real Madrid's first signing in the winter transfer window with an agreement already made with River Plate and the midfielder, and the deal will be announced after the Copa Libertadores final.

Still pending the signature, Palacios will sign until June 30th, 2024, and the move for him continues the strategy of looking to bring in young talent with the club hierarchy believing that it is the only way that they can compete with mega rich Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City.

The 20 year old has been playing in the Argentine top flight since he was 17 but still he hasn't played 50 games yet. He has made his debut for the national team and is a key player for River in their bid to win the Copa Libertadores.

The feeling at Madrid is that Palacios is mature enough and ready for the move which will cost a little over 20m euros. River have tried to delay his sale for as long as possible but Madrid do no want to wait any longer and feel that he can offer a lot of quality in the midfield in the second half of this season.

After some initial confusion, a phone call from club director Emilio Butragueno to the Argentine club's president smoothed the situation and closed the deal.

It is possible that he will be a rival to Madrid at the Club World Cup but first of all he would need to win the Copa Libertadores with River.