Is Mateo Retegui the Next Great Italian Striker?

The Italian-Argentine Striker Making Waves in Serie A

Mateo Retegui is on fire. The striker has netted 10 goals in nine Serie A appearances for Atalanta this season. A summer signing, he has added an extra dimension to the attack of the reigning Europa League champions. For many inside the Italian game, Retegui is the best centre-forward the country has.

His life story is more complex than simply being a naturalized Italian striker. It follows in the line of other sportspeople and connects to a wonderful, shared history of two nations.

The Italian Roots of Argentina

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, millions of people left Italy in search of better lives in the ‘New World’. Many who abandoned their home country were poor, starving southerners. The major port of departure was the Ligurian city of Genoa. Two million fled to Argentina between 1880 and 1920. Their desperation led them to Rio De La Plata. Italian culture became woven into Argentine society. Italians shaped the famous area of La Boca in Buenos Aires. Boca Juniors fans call themselves Xeneize which comes from ‘Genoese’. The link to Italy appears in many neighbourhoods, in the food of the country and in the Rioplatense Spanish spoken. The language is rhythmically more Italian, with many Italian words favoured in the vernacular. 30 million Argentines today claim to have at least partial Italian ancestry.

Retegui’s Journey

Serie A top scorer Mateo Retegui is a product of this history, and is now the great hope to propel Italy to the next World Cup. Mateo was born and grew up in Argentina. During his youth career, he had spells at each of the eternal Superclásico rivals, starting with River Plate and then on to Boca. After an impressive loan spell at Argentine club Tigre, Genoa signed him in the summer of 2023. This was a perfect full circle moment for Mateo; his father’s ancestors come from the Ligurian port city.

Wearing the blue of Italy was not something he initially considered. From a sporting family, his father Carlos Retegui represented Argentina in field hockey at three Olympic Games. His sister, Micaela Retegui, won a silver medal in the 2020 Olympics in the same sport. Mateo had represented Argentina at youth level, but in recent years he was left by the phone, waiting for a full call up from Scaloni that never came. It is a reality for many great players who come from a footballing power like Argentina. A striker breaking into that squad is comparable to the multitude of class Spanish midfielders left in the reserves from 2008-2012.

Italian-Argentine Footballers

Retegui is not the first Argentine footballer to play for Italy. 25 Argentines have played for the Italian men’s national team. Raimundo Orsi was a scorer in the 1934 World Cup final for Italy, etching him into the history of Gli Azzurri. He had already played for Argentina, the country of his birth, on 12 occasions during the 20s. Playing for multiple national teams was common even in the 50s and 60s with players like Di Stefano playing first for Argentina and Colombia before representing Franco’s Spain. The Argentine born Mauro Camoransei won the 2006 World Cup with Italy. After the match he said “I feel Argentine but I have worthily defended the colours of Italy. I think that nobody can say otherwise.” Franco Vázquez was the most recent example of this torn feeling. He appeared twice for Italy before regretting it and declaring for Argentina, appearing three times for them. Roberto Mancini, the Italy coach at the time, criticised Vasquez and questioned if those born outside of Italy with Italian heritage should be allowed to represent the country. Many Argentines in Serie A begin to identify with their ancestry, with playing for Italy the natural next step. In women’s hockey, three ex-Argentine players recently changed their allegiances to Italy, playing in FIH Olympic qualifiers at the start of this year. Lara Oviedo said on her decision: “I came to play in Europe after I got out of the Argentina squad. They then contacted me from Italy with the goal of helping them qualify for the World Cup. I was hesitating at first because Argentina is my country, but Italy is the country of my grandparents. So, I felt it was my second country. Of course, it was a hard decision, but I took it because I wanted to help them play in the World Cup.” For some athletes, the emotional bond with ancestry and sentiment for Italy is important, but the sporting opportunity is what motivates them.

A New Chapter

Retegui’s form for Tigre brought him to the attention of, ironically, Mancini. He awarded him his first cap for Italy against England. In a night that saw Harry Kane become England’s all-time top scorer, Retegui entered the international stage at the Stadio Maradona. He scored on his debut and has not looked back. So far, he has scored six goals in 16 international games, two in both October Nations League fixtures. He now has the chance to go to a World Cup, something that was not likely if he held out for an Argentine call up. On choosing to represent the country of his ancestors, Retegui told La Gazzetta dello Sport “I feel Italian. Although I’ve spent my whole life in Argentina, when I came to Italy I felt at home. Scaloni did not call me, Roberto did. I immediately said yes without hesitation. I sing the national anthem well too!”

Retegui’s Impact on Atalanta

He is the top scorer in Serie A this season. A cold and clinical finisher inside the area, with tremendous timing. He rises high above centre-backs to offer Atalanta a lethal aerial threat, but also likes to come wide, taking full backs on and whipping in dangerous crosses. Italy have unearthed a complete forward, a position in which they have lacked serious quality in recent years. Retegui may not have all the God given natural ability of Baggio, Del Piero or Totti, but who is to say this Argentine born striker cannot make just as profound a mark on Gli Azzurri, and carry them back to the heights of world football?

Retegui: An Unexpected Hero

Atalanta striker Mateo Retegui continued his astonishing start to the season by scoring two more goals as the Nerazzurri destroyed Verona 6-1, equalling a feat that only two Italian players could achieve before him in the three points for a win era. The 25-year-old netted twice in 58 minutes against the Gialloblu before being replaced by Nicolò Zaniolo moments later, increasing his scoring tally to 10 Serie A goals this season from nine games. As reported by Opta, by netting his first against Verona, Retegui became the third Italian player to score at least nine goals in his first nine matches for a Serie A club since three points were awarded for a league win. By doing so, he joined a group composed of Fiorentina’s Luca Toni and Sampdoria’s Vincenzo Montella, who scored 11 and nine goals in their opening nine games for their clubs, respectively. However, Retegui overcame the latter in the second half by finding his 10th net since joining Atalanta.

Having played his entire career up to that point in Argentina, few in Italy hadn’t even heard of Retegui. They know all about him now, though. Not only is Retegui – eligible for the Azzurri through his grandfather – a regular for Italy, he is leading the Serie A scoring chart this season having netted 10 times in 10 games for Atalanta. While many questioned the Bergamo club’s summer signing of the 25-year-old, Retegui is flourishing as the next great Italian forward.

Italy has produced more than its fair share of great forwards over the decades. Roberto Baggio, Paolo Rossi, Alessandro Del Piero, Francesco Totti, Gianluca Vialli and Christian Vieri, not to mention a few others, were all legitimate legends, but the country hasn’t had an elite level striker for a long time.

This is partly why there is so much excitement around Retegui. He is the sort of player Italy has spent the last decade looking for with Gian Piero Gasperini getting the best out of a player who scored just seven league goals for Genoa last season. The Atalanta manager has helped push Retegui to a level few believed he would ever reach.

Retegui has scored all sorts of goals for Atalanta this season. Three of his 10 league goals have come from his head. He has scored goals off both feet. He has poached inside the six-yard box and has also scored from outside the box – as he did by guiding home a finish from 18 yards out against Verona last weekend.

Gasperini has focused Retegui by adopting a 3-4-2-1 shape that sees Charles De Ketelaere and Ademola Lookman occupy the areas either side of Atalanta’s new centre forward with wing backs also positioned high to add another dimension to the attack. With Gianluca Scamacca out injured, Retegui became the new focal point.

While it is pertinent to note that Retegui is out-performing his Expected Goals (xG) of 6.8 in Serie A this season, that still places him among the division’s best performing players. Only Dušan Vlahović (7.4) and Moise Kean (6.8) are even close to the 25-year-old and neither have got to double figures in actual goals.

At Genoa, Retegui earned a reputation for being a hard-working, but limited player. His perceived lack of technical ability was frequently highlighted with his former employers not exactly distraught to lose a forward whose all-round game was believed to be inadequate. €28m was seen as fair value.

Under Gasperini, this perception has drastically changed. Retegui is doing a better job of linking up with the players around him, earning his place in an Atalanta side that plays a brand of modern, dynamic football. The understanding between Lookman and Retegui is particularly strong, combining for two league goals so far this season.

“He’s a great player but also a calm guy,” said Luciano Spalletti after the last international window which saw Retegui score in back-to-back UEFA Nations League games against Belgium and Israel. “He’s lethal inside the box and has learned to work more with the team. He will become a top player… he’s perfect.”

With Spalletti building for the 2026 World Cup, Retegui is expected to be a key figure for his adopted national team. Euro 2024 was a disappointment as Italy exited in the round of 16, but the Azzurri’s form since then has been encouraging with Spalletti’s team unbeaten in matches against France, Israel and Belgium. Retegui has featured in every game.

Atalanta’s business model as a club is to be a springboard in the transfer market. Indeed, La Dea have sold at least one prize asset every summer for the last few years. This summer, it was Teun Koopmeiners. Last summer, it was Rasmus Højlund. The summer before that, it was Cristian Romero.

The way Retegui is going, he might be next to draw interest from Europe’s elite, but he already appears to be in the perfect place for his development. Atalanta are playing in the Champions League this season and are once again competitive near the top end of the Serie A table. Retegui is spearheading a team on an upward trajectory.

Retegui’s career path has been unorthodox. He moved through several clubs in Argentina including Boca Juniors before making the switch to Serie A last summer. Now, he is the most prolific Italian goalscorer of his generation and is improving with every match. The long list of Azzurri legends that includes Baggio, Rossi, De Piero and co. could soon have a new name.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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