Tresoldi hat-trick puts Germany, Italy and Argentina in race for Brugge striker
Nicolò Tresoldi scored three goals for Club Brugge against Inter Milan, and the 22-year-old, who was born in Italy, now has Germany, Italy and Argentina courting him for their national teams.
A hat-trick at San Siro
Nicolò Tresoldi, 22, scored three goals for Club Brugge in a 4-3 Champions League match against Inter Milan at San Siro, making him the most talked-about player of the moment. Il Giornale reports that at 22 years and 54 days he became the youngest German to score a Champions League hat-trick, ahead of Adeyemi, who managed it at 22 years and 257 days. Tresoldi was born in Italy, and three national teams now want him: Germany, Italy and Argentina, the last because his mother, Barbara, is of Argentine origin according to Adnkronos.
From Italy to the Hannover academy
Tresoldi left Italy at 13 when his mother took a job at Hannover airport, il Giornale reports. Hannover 96 recruited him, and he rose through the club's youth sides as their top scorer before reaching the second-division squad, according to Die Welt. Il Giornale gives 26 October 2022 as the day he obtained German citizenship, and Die Welt says he has played for the German Under-21 side since 2023.
Brugge signed him from Hannover for a fee that Die Welt puts at nearly ten million euros, while il Giornale gives eight million. Under his transfer contract, Hannover is entitled to a share of the fee, Die Welt reports. Media reports cited by Die Welt say Brugge now wants at least 50 million euros for him.
- Obtains German citizenship, according to il Giornale
- Begins playing for the German Under-21 side, according to Die Welt
- Scores three goals for Club Brugge in a 4-3 match at San Siro
Three nations, one decision
Antonio Di Salvo, coach of the German Under-21 side, spoke to Adnkronos from Munich and said the club and the German federation are working to keep him.
We, together with the German federation, are doing everything to keep him with us.
Di Salvo said the final decision belongs to Tresoldi's parents and the people closest to him, and that he had laid out a path for him four years earlier, when Tresoldi was in the Under-19 side. Adnkronos reports that Tresoldi is the captain of the German Under-21 side and that the decision is expected in the summer, after the Under-21 European Championship in June.
At a press conference before his first home match as Hannover coach, against FC St. Pauli, Sandro Wagner, the club's new coach and a former German Under-20 coach, spoke about the striker.
I am happy for everyone who comes from Hannover, makes a career and hopefully plays for Germany.
Wagner added that clubs should look first at their own youth before signing players from outside. Borussia Dortmund, FC Barcelona and AS Roma are all linked with Tresoldi, according to Die Welt.
Doubts in Italy
Francesca Saldi, president of ASD Fontanelle in Gubbio, Umbria, the club where Tresoldi began playing, told Fanpage that he had trials at 12 or 13 with Milan, Juventus, Bologna and Fiorentina, and that all of them told him he was not good enough. Il Giornale also lists Atalanta among the Italian clubs that turned him away.
In Italy nobody believed in him, Germany is ahead because it valued and developed him.
Saldi said Tresoldi still returns to Gubbio to play cards with old friends, and she described him as a leader who is liked by everyone.
Where things stand
The articles report no decision on his national team. Di Salvo said the choice will come after the Under-21 European Championship in June, and clubs in Germany, Italy and Argentina have not yet made a formal move that the articles describe.
