Nicolo Tresoldi's National Team Decision on Hold
Nicolo Tresoldi is scoring freely in Belgium, being courted in Italy and monitored in Germany – and yet, when it comes to choosing his national team, he has hit pause.
Italian outlets report that the Club Brugge striker has not committed his international future to the Azzurri after all. In a meeting at the FIGC headquarters with new national coach Roberto Mancini and technical director Claudio Ranieri, the 22-year-old is said to have asked for time. No call-up for the upcoming Nations League fixtures. No FIFA switch request, for now. Just space to think.
A decision on ice
Italy believed they were close. At the end of August, Gazzetta dello Sport claimed Tresoldi had chosen the country of his birth. The narrative in Germany was more cautious: Bild insisted the former Hannover 96 forward remained undecided.
The latest twist backs the German version. Tresoldi has reportedly told the FIGC he wants to complete the current cycle with Germany’s Under-21s before making any definitive move. In response, the Italian federation has parked his association-switch paperwork with FIFA. The chase continues, but the finish line has moved.
For both federations, the timing matters. Tresoldi is not a theoretical prospect. He is in form now. He has already scored five goals in seven games this season for Club Brugge, including a sharp finish in a 3-2 Champions League defeat to Aston Villa on Tuesday that underlined why two major football nations are circling.
From Cagliari to Bruges, via Hannover
Tresoldi’s story helps explain the tug of war. Born in Cagliari to an Italian father and Argentinian mother, he spent his early childhood in Italy before moving to Germany at 13. Hannover 96 picked him up, polished him, and watched him climb through their ranks.
His international path followed the same route. Since Under-19 level he has worn Germany’s colours, becoming a mainstay for the DFB youth sides. With the Under-21s, his numbers are already impressive: 12 goals in 24 appearances, a return that speaks of a forward who finds space where others see only defenders.
Club Brugge invested €7.5 million to bring him from Hannover in 2025, and he repaid that faith immediately. His first season in Belgium was outstanding, the kind of debut campaign that changes a player’s status from “interesting” to “urgent”. Scouts came, rumours followed, and suddenly his choice of national team shirt became a matter of strategy, not sentiment.
The one that got away from Nagelsmann
Julian Nagelsmann saw the potential early. During his tenure as Germany coach, Tresoldi came close to a World Cup call-up. Very close.
“He was really very close for a long time,” Nagelsmann admitted, describing Tresoldi as a striker “who has that special instinct in the penalty area”. For a player still finding his way at senior level, that is not a throwaway compliment. It is the sort of line that tends to stick in a federation’s memory.
In the end, the World Cup came too soon. The ticket went elsewhere, but Nagelsmann made it clear Tresoldi’s “time will come”. That time may now arrive under a different man.
Nagelsmann stepped down after Germany’s disastrous World Cup campaign in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Jürgen Klopp has since taken over and will name his first squad on 17 September. He has not yet spoken publicly about Tresoldi. He will know the file is on his desk.
Italy’s rebuild and a race for influence
On the other side of the Alps, Italy are rebuilding too. Mancini is back in charge after another failure to reach the World Cup finals, and the Azzurri are trying to reshape an attack that has lacked a reliable, ruthless No 9 for too long.
Their Nations League schedule is demanding: Belgium on 25 September, France on 2 October, and Turkey twice on 28 September and 5 October. Those are fixtures where a penalty-box predator would not go amiss. They are also the kind of high-profile games that could have been used to seduce a dual-national striker still weighing up his options.
Instead, Italy will go into that run without Tresoldi. At his request.
The message from the player is clear enough: he wants to honour his commitment to Germany’s Under-21s, finish this chapter properly, and only then decide. It is a stance that carries a certain maturity, but it also increases the risk for Italy. The longer he stays in the DFB system, the more natural it becomes for him to stay there.
A choice that will shape a career
For now, Tresoldi continues to do the one thing that keeps both countries interested: he scores. He presses. He irritates defenders. Every goal for Brugge, every sharp movement in the Champions League, adds another layer of urgency to the decision that he is deliberately delaying.
Germany can point to continuity, to a pathway he already knows and a coach in Klopp whose attacking football appeals to most forwards. Italy can offer heritage, the pull of Cagliari and the chance to lead the line for a nation that still reveres its great No 9s.
The paperwork sits untouched at FIFA. The FIGC waits. The DFB watches. Tresoldi keeps playing.
Sooner or later, one anthem will win.
