Tresoldi Delays Italy Switch Amid Germany Interest
Nicolo Tresoldi is in no rush to choose his flag.
Several leading Italian outlets report that the Club Brugge striker has not committed his international future to Italy after all, despite weeks of noise suggesting the decision was done and dusted.
In meetings at the FIGC headquarters with new Italy coach Roberto Mancini and technical director Claudio Ranieri, the 22-year-old is said to have asked for more time and requested that he not be called up for the upcoming Nations League fixtures. The Italian federation has now parked his FIFA association switch, according to Gazzetta dello Sport and La Repubblica.
For now, Tresoldi wants to finish what he started with Germany’s Under-21s. That is his immediate priority. The FIGC, sensing the hesitation, have effectively pressed pause.
A Rising Star Caught Between Two Giants
The tug of war is easy to understand. Tresoldi is in form and on the rise.
At Club Brugge, he has started the season with purpose and precision: five goals in seven matches. On Tuesday, he scored again, this time on the biggest stage, in a 3-2 Champions League defeat to Aston Villa, underlining why both Germany and Italy are circling.
His performances have fuelled transfer talk and international speculation in equal measure. At the end of August, Gazzetta reported that Tresoldi had chosen Italy. In Germany, Bild countered that he was still undecided. The latest developments suggest the German paper had the temperature of the situation closer to reality.
Tresoldi’s story mirrors his dilemma. Born in Cagliari to an Italian father and Argentinian mother, he spent his early childhood in Italy before moving to Germany at 13. He came through the ranks at Hannover 96, then secured a move to Brugge in 2025 for €7.5 million.
Since Under-19 level, he has worn German colours, scoring 12 goals in 24 games for the Under-21s. That continuity with the DFB is not something he is ready to break off lightly.
Nagelsmann’s Near Miss and Klopp’s First Call
His breakthrough season in Brugge almost took him all the way to the World Cup.
Former Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann revealed that Tresoldi came close to making his squad for the tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico. “He was really very close for a long time,” Nagelsmann said, describing him as a striker “who has that special instinct in the penalty area”. In the end, Tresoldi missed out, but Nagelsmann made it clear he believed “his time will come”.
That time might be approaching under a different manager.
Nagelsmann stepped down after Germany’s disastrous World Cup campaign. Jürgen Klopp has taken over and will name his first squad on 17 September. He has yet to publicly address Tresoldi’s situation, but the timing is impossible to ignore: a prolific, undecided striker, a new coach, and a squad in need of fresh energy.
If Klopp makes the call, Tresoldi will have a decision that goes far beyond one international window.
Italy’s Rebuild Meets a Waiting Game
Italy are hardly passive observers in all this. They are rebuilding too.
Mancini has returned to the Azzurri dugout after Italy once again failed to reach the World Cup finals. The Nations League offers him a laboratory for change, with high-profile tests against Belgium on 25 September, France on 2 October and a double-header with Turkey on 28 September and 5 October.
Tresoldi was viewed as a potential pillar of that new cycle, a modern forward with penalty-box instincts and Champions League experience before his mid-20s. Yet when the FIGC pushed, he tapped the brakes.
So Italy wait. Germany wait. Tresoldi keeps scoring.
The next time his name appears on an international teamsheet, the crest above it might define the rest of his career.
