Nicolò Tresoldi: A San Siro Hat-Trick, a Quiet Night Against Lens — and the Germany, Italy or Argentina Question

Just eight days after his hat-trick against Inter, Nicolò Tresoldi came back down to earth against Lens. But the noteworthy part is not that a young striker stopped scoring. It is the journey of a player born in Italy, raised in German football, now rising in Belgium and facing a choice that could shape his international career.

The short version

His first season at Club Brugge turned Nicolò Tresoldi from a young striker developed in the 2. Bundesliga into one of the Champions League’s most talked-about faces. In 2025/26 he scored 23 goals in 58 appearances across all competitions, 19 of them in the Belgian league. In 2026/27, his hat-trick against Inter at San Siro raised his profile still further.

Eight days later, Brugge beat Lens 3-0. Tresoldi did not score, but his left-footed shot from the corner forced the goalkeeper to parry the ball into the path of Hans Vanaken, who tapped in the rebound to open the scoring. It is a detail worth examining: a centre-forward is judged not only by the times he puts the ball in the net, but also by how he creates advantages for the whole system.

At international level, Tresoldi has scored 16 goals in 27 appearances for Germany U21, but has not yet settled his senior national-team choice. Germany, Italy and Argentina all connect to him through his development, his family and his roots. Before asking which shirt he will wear, perhaps a different question comes first: what kind of centre-forward is Tresoldi really, and what does he still need to improve to reach the highest level?

1. From San Siro to Jan Breydel: the value of a goalless night

On 13 October 2026, Nicolò Tresoldi walked into San Siro in a Club Brugge shirt. For a player born in Cagliari and raised in the German football system, the stadium carried an extra meaning: he has been an AC Milan supporter since childhood, while that night’s opponents were Inter, the other club from the same city.

Tresoldi left the pitch having scored three times in Brugge’s 4-3 win. A hat-trick at San Siro, in a Champions League match, is enough to turn a young striker’s name into a widely discussed topic. But nights like that also have a downside: they make expectations grow faster than the player’s own development.

Tresoldi hat-trick at San Siro 🤠#UCL pic.twitter.com/5TwnSXZQJk

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) October 13, 2026

Eight days later, Brugge hosted Lens at Jan Breydel in matchday three of the Champions League league phase. The home side won 3-0 with goals from Vanaken, Joaquin Seys and Carlos Forbs. Vanaken opened the scoring in first-half stoppage time, Seys doubled the lead in the 50th minute, before Forbs sealed the win in the 72nd.

Tresoldi did not score. But his left-footed shot from the corner forced goalkeeper Robin Risser to push the ball straight into Vanaken’s path, giving the Brugge captain the chance to tap in the rebound from close range. The play does not count as an official assist for Tresoldi, but it shows a kind of influence that does not necessarily appear in the assist column.

The point is not to turn one play into proof that Tresoldi is the finished article. What is worth watching is how he can contribute when finishing chances do not come his way: occupying the area in front of goal, forcing centre-backs to track him, contesting aerial balls and opening space for team-mates.

A single goalless match cannot by itself prove maturity. But set against the hat-trick against Inter, it creates an interesting test: can Tresoldi maintain his influence when he is no longer the focal point of every move?

2. Cagliari, Hannover and a road with no red carpet

Nicolò Tresoldi was born on 20 August 2004 in Cagliari, Sardinia. His father, Emanuele Tresoldi, is Italian and played professionally. His mother is Argentine. The family moved to Hannover when Nicolò was still young, in connection with his mother’s work in the aviation industry; in Germany, he joined Hannover 96’s academy system.

That was the turning point that shaped his football path. Instead of rising through a big academy in Italy, Tresoldi developed through the youth levels in Germany, the reserve team and then Hannover’s first team. The 2. Bundesliga environment brought a different kind of challenge from youth football: experienced centre-backs, physical duels and less time on the ball in dangerous areas.

Across three seasons with Hannover’s first team in the 2. Bundesliga, he made 77 appearances and scored 14 goals. This is not the record of an instant wonderkid, but of a process of accumulating experience, finding a role and learning to face more mature players.

In the summer of 2025, Club Brugge brought him to Belgium. The move opened a logical step up: from the German second tier to a club that regularly features in European competition. At Brugge, Tresoldi had the chance to keep developing in a more competitive environment, while still being in a position to be given playing time.

His contract with Brugge runs until 2029. As for the transfer fee, Brugge paid €6 million, plus up to €1 million in performance-related bonuses — putting the total value of the deal at around €7–7.5 million.

More important than the fee is the development choice: Brugge is not only a launchpad for a young player to get noticed. It is also where Tresoldi must prove that what worked at Hannover can be converted into value in a different football environment.

3. Brugge: where a striker found a better version of himself

The 2025/26 season was the turning point in Tresoldi’s career. He scored 23 goals and provided 9 assists in 58 appearances across all competitions. In the Pro League alone, his 19 goals made him the league’s top scorer.

Those numbers carry weight because they did not come from just a few cup matches. Tresoldi maintained his scoring output over a long season, against many kinds of opponents and across many different phases. That is a better basis for judging potential than relying on a single hat-trick.

He has carried that form into 2026/27. After the Lens match, he has 9 goals in 13 appearances across all competitions; in the Champions League, he has 4 goals after three matchdays.

Even so, a breakout season does not automatically prove a player is ready for the jump to a bigger club. As his reputation grows, opponents have more data with which to study him: centre-backs can mark him more tightly, midfields can cut off the supply earlier, and the space inside the box will keep shrinking.

That is when qualities beyond scoring become important. A striker who can maintain his output when opponents adjust their defending usually has more ways to help the team. With Tresoldi, the next question is not only how many goals he scores, but how he reacts when the favourable chances no longer appear as often.

4. What kind of centre-forward is Tresoldi?

The appeal of Tresoldi’s game is that he does not rely on a single quality. He can find space in the box, finish quickly, join in combination play and become the target for balls played into dangerous areas.

And those qualities show clearly enough over a longer look: this is a centre-forward who lives off movement and the first touch, rather than raw power or pure pace.

Movement before receiving the ball

Tresoldi starts creating his advantage before the ball reaches his feet. Instead of standing still between the two centre-backs, he changes the direction of his run, drops a step and then accelerates — and he particularly likes drifting left to attack a defender’s blind side before darting across the near post to meet a low cross.

This is an aspect worth following in Tresoldi. If his movements drag centre-backs out of position or open a corridor for a winger, that influence can exist even when he does not touch the ball at the end of the move.

The opening goal against Lens is the clearest illustration: as the late first-half corner came in, Tresoldi had already taken up his position in the box and struck a left-footed shot well enough that Risser could only push it out — straight into Vanaken’s path for the rebound.

One-touch finishing and taking chances

Tresoldi’s biggest weapon is how quickly he finishes: first-time strikes generated by his movement, clean hits from range, a good volley and composure in tight spaces. Defenders get less time to close him down, and the goalkeeper barely has time to adjust his position.

The hat-trick against Inter showed that Tresoldi can take his chances in a big match. This season’s numbers back him up: among Belgian league strikers he ranks in the 94th percentile for shot attempts and the 97th for goals.

A player can score many goals in one spell thanks to outstanding form, but a long-term evaluation must also answer the question: does he keep scoring when the quality of his chances drops?

Link-up: connecting play instead of just waiting for the ball

The modern centre-forward does not necessarily stand between the two centre-backs all match long. Depending on the system, he can drop deep to receive the ball, combine with one-touch passes, hold the ball up or keep possession long enough for team-mates to push up.

Tresoldi shows positive signs in joining combinations and connecting with the players around him. However, to evaluate this accurately, one needs to see how he handles receiving the ball with his back to goal, whether he can keep the ball under pressure, and whether his touches help the team advance or merely slow down the tempo of the attack.

That connective quality makes his play reminiscent of Roberto Firmino: hard-working, sharp in short combinations, knitting attacks together.

Aerial duels, pressing — and the limits still to overcome

At 1.86 m tall, Tresoldi is a reliable target for aerial balls. His edge is not height alone, but how he reads the flight of the ball and times his jump, in dead-ball situations and second balls alike.

Pressing, too, must be assessed by quality, not just by the number of runs. A striker can press effectively by choosing the right moment to step up, cutting off passing lanes and forcing the opponent to play the ball into a disadvantageous area. Running a lot but pressing at the wrong moment can cause the team to lose its structure.

One limit that still needs watching is his ability to create chances for himself when space is squeezed. Dribbling past an opponent, holding the ball under direct pressure and operating in tight areas will decide how many roles Tresoldi can take on at the highest level.

At 22, he still has time to develop. But great potential and a finished striker are two different concepts. The next thing to prove is consistency: not only producing memorable nights, but maintaining quality over dozens of matches.

5. Germany, Italy or Argentina: a choice football alone cannot explain

If his club career is a story of professional development, Tresoldi’s national-team future is also tied to family, childhood and personal identity. He was born in Cagliari, has an Italian father and an Argentine mother, but grew up in German football and has worn the shirts of Germany’s youth teams for many years.

In his interview with the DFB on 22 September 2026, Tresoldi described his feelings with the image of Germany and Italy each occupying one half of his heart. He affirmed his pride in wearing the Germany shirt, while acknowledging that both countries mean a great deal to him. He also wants to continue the journey with Germany U21 towards U21 Euro 2027 before considering his next step.

That is an important reminder: wearing a youth team’s shirt should not be interpreted as a final decision at senior level. Tresoldi has been attached to German football for many years, but his connection with Italy is not only about his birthplace. It is also family, culture and emotion towards the country’s football.

After the hat-trick against Inter, Tresoldi said he had spoken with figures representing the parties involved, among them Jürgen Klopp and Roberto Mancini, as well as federation representatives. But those conversations do not mean a decision has been made.

On the German side, Klopp has now set out his own approach publicly. At half-time of Bayern Munich’s Champions League match against Arsenal on the night of 21 October — the very night Brugge beat Lens — the Germany head coach told DAZN on the touchline at the Allianz Arena that his staff are watching the 22-year-old closely: “We’re watching all of it. We’re not stupid.” According to Sport Bild, he also praised Tresoldi as “a great lad who has developed superbly and still has a great deal of potential to develop further”.

Mancini has even courted him publicly, back in late September: “He said he feels 50 per cent Italian and 50 per cent German. Hopefully by June he will feel 51 per cent Italian.”

Another hat-trick, with the captain’s armband on

Less than two weeks before the San Siro night, Tresoldi had scored a hat-trick for Germany U21 in a 4-1 win over Malta in U21 Euro qualifying. He scored in the 11th, 47th and 69th minutes, one of them a direct free kick.

The noteworthy detail is not only the three goals, but also that he was handed the captain’s armband from the start of the match. For a player still weighing up his international future, that responsibility shows his place in the Germany U21 journey is not merely that of a goalscorer called up to add firepower.

Those three goals took Tresoldi’s U21 tally to 16 goals in 27 appearances. That number brings him closer to Pierre Littbarski’s scoring record for Germany U21. However, youth-level records do not automatically guarantee success at senior level: the speed of decision-making, tactical complexity and competition for places all rise considerably.

Germany has reason to be patient with Tresoldi, but it also needs to judge him by his ability to transfer his youth-level qualities into the senior environment — not only by his goal count.

What could Italy offer?

With Italy, Tresoldi is not simply a player born on the country’s territory. He has a clear family and cultural connection, and is also an AC Milan supporter since childhood. The hat-trick at San Siro made that story richly symbolic, but Tresoldi himself has stressed that the performance against Inter does not by itself decide his international future.

The final choice may depend on personal feelings, his connection with the youth national teams, his professional prospects and how he pictures his career in the years ahead. There is no basis to claim he will choose Italy merely because of his birthplace or one standout match.

For both Germany and Italy, the most persuasive thing should not be just a promise of opportunity. It must be a clear development pathway: the intended role, the tactical requirements and how the player can progress from the youth teams to the highest level.

The third door: Argentina

The story has another branch. Tresoldi’s mother is Argentine, so Argentina also belongs in the picture of his roots and his international choice. He acknowledges that he could consider all three countries.

However, a distinction must be drawn between eligibility conditions, interest reported by the media and an official decision. That a federation is said to have made contact does not mean the player is leaning that way, let alone that he has committed.

22-year-old Nicolò Tresoldi scored a hat trick at the San Siro against Inter Milan on Tuesday.

Born in Cagliari to an Italian father and an Argentine mother of Italian descent, Tresoldi moved to Germany as a child and developed through the German football system, eventually… pic.twitter.com/1HMaRmouGJ

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) October 14, 2026

Argentina may be a choice of family and identity, but Tresoldi’s football journey so far is tightly bound to Germany. Italy also has its special connection through his birthplace and family culture. His order of preference should not be guessed at when the player himself has not announced a final choice.

What makes the story worth following is not turning Tresoldi into a character in a tug-of-war between three federations. It is that a young player must weigh a decision with long-term consequences for his career and his identity.

The legal picture: why the door remains completely open

One point needs to be made clear, because it determines the nature of the whole story: in regulatory terms, Tresoldi is not locked into any national team.

Under Article 9 of FIFA’s Regulations Governing the Application of the Statutes (RGAS), concerning a change of association, a player may change association once if he meets all of the following conditions: he has only played in official competitions at a level other than senior national team (“A” international) level; and from his very first official match for his current association, he already held the nationality of the association he wishes to switch to.

Tresoldi satisfies both. He has never appeared in any official match for a senior national team, and his Italian and Argentine nationalities are ones he has held from birth — born in Italy, to an Italian father and an Argentine mother — not nationalities naturalised later. His matches for Germany U21, including in U21 Euro qualifying, therefore do not lock in his choice at senior level: if one day he decides to choose Italy or Argentina, the procedure is merely a one-time change-of-association request submitted to FIFA. Conversely, the German door does not need to be “opened” either — he is inside the DFB’s system, and a call-up to the senior team, if it comes, is the natural next step.

In other words, this is not a story about who “wins” Tresoldi on paper. All three federations have a clear legal basis; the rest comes down to his personal choice and the professional pathway each side can offer.

6. Transfer talk: the interest is real, but a valuation is not a prophecy

After a standout goalscoring season and a Champions League hat-trick, it is understandable that Tresoldi is being linked with big clubs. But the numbers on the market need to be kept clearly separate.

• €35 million: his current market value — nearly four times its level of a year ago.
• €35 million: the AS Roma bid reported to have been submitted and rejected by Club Brugge — still not officially confirmed by either club.
• A higher asking price from Brugge: the figure rumoured to be demanded runs to €45–60 million or more.

The three kinds of figures tell three different stories: a market value estimated by a platform, a bid reported by the press, and the price a selling club may hope for. They cannot be substituted for one another.

Likewise, a club sending scouts to watch a player does not mean it has submitted an offer to buy him. The English clubs linked with Tresoldi show the interest is real, but none has yet moved to a formal bid.

For Tresoldi, the next step may matter more than a big transfer right away: continuing to play regularly, refining his skills and finding an environment that suits his role. A costly contract can raise his fame, but only consistent performances will help him sustain his standing.

7. The real question for Germany

Germany does not lack promising young strikers. The harder problem is finding a centre-forward who can maintain his scoring output, connect the play and meet the tactical demands at the highest level.

Tresoldi has qualities that make him a candidate worth watching: positioning, quick finishing, European experience and maturity through the levels of German football. His U21 record and his progress at Brugge show he deserves to be assessed seriously.

But calling him up to the senior team immediately and building the team around him are two entirely different decisions. If he is called up, he will still have to compete with more experienced strikers and prove that his strengths at Brugge can be converted into effectiveness within Die Mannschaft’s system.

For the DFB, the challenge is not only to persuade Tresoldi to choose Germany. It is also to show him a clear sporting pathway, where his qualities can develop and contribute to the national team. A player may choose a shirt out of affection, but professional prospects remain an important part of the decision.

That is precisely the stance Klopp has just set out on DAZN: “We don’t have to chase after anyone. The lad has to decide for himself, at the moment when he can decide. Then everything is absolutely fine, and I will accept the decision. But persuading someone to become a Germany international — that can’t really be right.” He stressed that this is his general principle, not aimed specifically at Tresoldi. In other words, Klopp’s DFB are prepared to wait: their job is to show a pathway convincing enough, not to pile pressure on a 22-year-old.

Conclusion: before choosing a shirt, Tresoldi must keep proving himself

The eight days between San Siro and Jan Breydel form an interesting slice of modern football. One night, Tresoldi scored three goals and became the centre of Champions League attention. The next night, he did not score but could still contribute to his team’s victory. Both matches provide valuable information, but neither is enough to define his entire career.

What makes Tresoldi noteworthy is not only his goal count. It is the journey from Hannover to Brugge, his ability to adapt to a new environment and his prospects of becoming a more complete centre-forward. But the next step demands more than brilliant moments: he must maintain his output when opponents have studied him, when space shrinks and when expectation becomes constant pressure.

As for the national team, Germany has the advantage of his development and the years he has spent with its youth teams. Italy has the advantage of his birthplace and family connection. Argentina is the third door, through his mother. Neither side can treat the final decision as a foregone conclusion.

And so the most important question right now is not only whether Germany, Italy or Argentina will get Tresoldi. It is whether he can turn nights like San Siro into his regular standard of performance — so that when he chooses a national team’s shirt, he is not only a talent full of promise, but a striker who has proven he can compete at the highest level.

What do you think should decide Tresoldi’s choice: his personal connection with Germany, Italy and Argentina, or the professional prospects each national team can offer him?