Roberto Mancini surprised on his last national team squad list leaving out names as Belotti, Immobile and Moise Kean for introducing Mateo Retegui, and his bet went right as the young attacker (29/04/1999), despite the defeat of the team, achieved to score his first ever national team goal in the Euro qualifiers match against England.
Like many other Italians, he was born in Argentina and has developed all his professional career there. He actually plays for Tigre in Argentinian ‘Primera Division’ on loan from Boca Jrs. During last campaign for Tigre, he had a terrible impact, providing 22 goal contributions, and has started the current season in the same outstanding form, scoring 6 goals in just 8 matches, leading the goal scoring table and catching the attention of many clubs around the world.
Mateo Retegui is a pure striker that can suit in a lot of different systems. During the current season we have been able to see him play as the main attacking reference, or playing alongside another striker having the same impact and efficiency in both cases. He stands out for his physicality, work rate, fight and goal scoring nose.
The Italian forward is a complete striker, mixing different styles. He is a killer inside the penalty area, where he makes the difference. He possesses above average tactical sense in the penalty box, constantly looking for defenders blindside in order to freely operate to gain optimal spots for finishing. Retegui can also adopt the vertical attacker profile role either with the ball on his feet or not. He is a master attacking spaces to the back of the defense, commonly orientated to left or right sides, dragging center backs out of position creating spaces for midfielders to arrive from the second line. When struggling to build up plays, Retegui is also a good option to play directly, being a clear target for long throws. His physicality is key there, as his size (1.86m) and corpulence make him successful in aerial duels, allowing to construct attacking sequences by winning the second play in advanced areas. Those characteristics let him also play with the back to the goal, protecting the ball, absorbing impacts, timing the play and finding midfielders to project into attack or explosively turning around where his big stride, change of pass and powerful ball carries become key factors of gaining verticality.
Retegui is not the kind of forward involved in the link up who would commonly come to support the midfield and combine in areas far from the goal. His passing accuracy and ball control are attributes to improve in order to compete and be determinant playing at the best level. He is not a skillful player in tight spaces, but has great dribbling in open spaces, being able to lead transitions and counterattacks. But referring to a stricker, the most important and remarkable aspect is the finishing, where he stays above a lot of forwards. He is able to score either with left or right foot, dominating powerful shots but being clinical and precise in 1vs1 situations. He is also the kind of forward who has the goal between eyebrows, and does not hesitate to try long shots, having great ability to turn around near the penalty area and quickly arm the shot. Another remarkable aspect of his goal scoring ability is his heading, being imperial in crosses and set pieces in opponents penalty area.
Retegui is the kind of forward who every mister would like to have in his team due to his compromise and work rate also in the defensive phase. He is a clear example of fight and determination. The Italian is an active pressing player, where only his presence intimidates the man in possession of the ball. He helps the midfield in defensive issues, adding muscle, aggressiveness and being successful in duels. Retegui, being a striker, provides a great amount of ball recoveries for his team, where he usually uses his physicality to outmuscle the rivals. His size and aerial dominance are also a great contribution in defensive set pieces and strategy actions.
Being last year's goal scorer in Argentina first division, and having started the current season with similar stats, Retegui is in the radar of many top clubs, even in Europe. Retegui seems to be ready for the biggest stages and despite having room for improvement, he is already a huge striker in the world of football.
Click here to see full scouting report develop from our scouting department.
Like many other Italians, he was born in Argentina and has developed all his professional career there. He actually plays for Tigre in Argentinian ‘Primera Division’ on loan from Boca Jrs. During last campaign for Tigre, he had a terrible impact, providing 22 goal contributions, and has started the current season in the same outstanding form, scoring 6 goals in just 8 matches, leading the goal scoring table and catching the attention of many clubs around the world.
Mateo Retegui is a pure striker that can suit in a lot of different systems. During the current season we have been able to see him play as the main attacking reference, or playing alongside another striker having the same impact and efficiency in both cases. He stands out for his physicality, work rate, fight and goal scoring nose.
The Italian forward is a complete striker, mixing different styles. He is a killer inside the penalty area, where he makes the difference. He possesses above average tactical sense in the penalty box, constantly looking for defenders blindside in order to freely operate to gain optimal spots for finishing. Retegui can also adopt the vertical attacker profile role either with the ball on his feet or not. He is a master attacking spaces to the back of the defense, commonly orientated to left or right sides, dragging center backs out of position creating spaces for midfielders to arrive from the second line. When struggling to build up plays, Retegui is also a good option to play directly, being a clear target for long throws. His physicality is key there, as his size (1.86m) and corpulence make him successful in aerial duels, allowing to construct attacking sequences by winning the second play in advanced areas. Those characteristics let him also play with the back to the goal, protecting the ball, absorbing impacts, timing the play and finding midfielders to project into attack or explosively turning around where his big stride, change of pass and powerful ball carries become key factors of gaining verticality.
Retegui is not the kind of forward involved in the link up who would commonly come to support the midfield and combine in areas far from the goal. His passing accuracy and ball control are attributes to improve in order to compete and be determinant playing at the best level. He is not a skillful player in tight spaces, but has great dribbling in open spaces, being able to lead transitions and counterattacks. But referring to a stricker, the most important and remarkable aspect is the finishing, where he stays above a lot of forwards. He is able to score either with left or right foot, dominating powerful shots but being clinical and precise in 1vs1 situations. He is also the kind of forward who has the goal between eyebrows, and does not hesitate to try long shots, having great ability to turn around near the penalty area and quickly arm the shot. Another remarkable aspect of his goal scoring ability is his heading, being imperial in crosses and set pieces in opponents penalty area.
Retegui is the kind of forward who every mister would like to have in his team due to his compromise and work rate also in the defensive phase. He is a clear example of fight and determination. The Italian is an active pressing player, where only his presence intimidates the man in possession of the ball. He helps the midfield in defensive issues, adding muscle, aggressiveness and being successful in duels. Retegui, being a striker, provides a great amount of ball recoveries for his team, where he usually uses his physicality to outmuscle the rivals. His size and aerial dominance are also a great contribution in defensive set pieces and strategy actions.
Being last year's goal scorer in Argentina first division, and having started the current season with similar stats, Retegui is in the radar of many top clubs, even in Europe. Retegui seems to be ready for the biggest stages and despite having room for improvement, he is already a huge striker in the world of football.
Click here to see full scouting report develop from our scouting department.