Nicolò Tresoldi, from Cagliari to the Champions League

He was born in Cagliari in 2004 and in January there was talk of the rossoblù being interested in him, but Nicolò Tresoldi now plays and scores in Belgium at Club Brugge: 3 goals in the league, 2 in the Champions League (one on his debut in the league phase in the 4-0 against Monaco).

And with the Germany Under 21s: at 13 he moved from Gubbio to Hannover and established himself in the “2. Bundesliga”, the second German division.

Italy coach Gattuso announced last Tuesday that he's following him. The young striker's entire family has ties to Sardinia, and his father, Emanuele, a former defender for many years in Serie A and Serie B, still has a home in Pula.

Tresoldi, what feelings did you have seeing your son on the pitch in Atalanta-Club Brugge?

"I thought, 'Who would have thought?' because I couldn't even remotely imagine a situation like this. So many moments came back to me; it was very emotional."

Why did you decide to play for Germany?

"In 2017, we chose this adventure abroad as a family experience. He started in Hannover's youth team, and after five years, the Federation asked him if he'd like to represent Germany: he accepted, and from there he started with the Under-19s."

Coach Gattuso is following Nicolò: would he accept Italy's call-up?

"It's nice. There's nothing available right now, and he's very happy with the German Under-21s. He's focused on that. It still seems a bit premature for the senior national team. We haven't thought about it yet, we're taking it one step at a time."

Nicolò was born in Cagliari.

We've had a house in Pula since 1995. My father-in-law was a golf instructor at Is Molas for twenty years, and we spent a lot of time here. Both my children, Nicolò and Sofia, were born in Cagliari: it's a city we're very attached to. Nicolò lived in Pula for the first two years, and then we moved to Gubbio. He often comes back in the summer when he can.

In January, there were also transfer rumours about Cagliari.

"We'd read something, but personally, we never received confirmation of any official negotiations. He's an AC Milan supporter, but we're also fans of Cagliari and always follow them."

In your career as a defender you have faced the rossoblù several times, what memories do you have?

"Great matches, and even though my father was from Ferrara, he supported Cagliari for Gigi Riva. In 1993, we won 5-2 against Atalanta on the opening day: Radice was on the rossoblù bench and he was fired, I was marking Moriero. Then I remember a 1-1 draw in Serie B with Castel di Sangro, in 1997-98: the special thing about the Sant'Elia was the wind."