Mateo Retegui was given a golden opportunity by Luciano Spalletti and he didn’t disappoint, proving himself the right striker to lead Italy at Euro 2024 this summer.

The 24-year-old Argentine-Italian forward immediately impressed with the Azzurri upon his initial arrival 12 months ago, scoring in his first two games against England and Malta, but injuries and lack of call-ups left him mostly out of the picture since.

Spalletti decided to start Retegui in Italy’s friendly with Venezuela on Thursday and he immediately rose to the task, netting a brace to guide the Azzurri to a 2-1 win. It was a commanding performance from the Genoa striker, and one that might’ve come at the perfect time.

TMW highlights how Retegui has now seemingly proven himself the right number nine for Italy ahead of the European Championship this summer, taking a step forward in the hierarchies ahead of players like Ciro Immobile, Gianluca Scamacca and Moise Kean.

Considering that Spalletti can only include 23 players in his Azzurri squad in the summer, only two centre forwards are expected, and the current frontrunners are now Retegui and Giacomo Raspadori.

Retegui stats this season

This season, the 24-year-old has scored eight goals and provided three assists in 1840 minutes of action across 24 total matches, shining under Alberto Gilardino in his debut season with Genoa despite struggling with a knee injury.

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