Mateo Retegui Scout Report At Atalanta & Italy NT 2024/2025: What Makes The Italian Star One Of The Best Strikers In Serie A – Player Analysis

Not many Argentinian-Italian players have represented the Italian national team with success.

Yet, some remarkable names can be mentioned when talking about players born in Argentina who had a significant impact on the Azzurri.

These names include Mauro Germán Camoranesi (one of the 2006 World Cup winners), Gabriel Paletta (former AS Roma) and Juventus man Pablo Daniel Osvaldo, and Ezequiel Matías Schelotto.

We can also add Mateo Retegui to this list of remarkable Argentinian-Italian players who’ve represented Italy, as he promises to be an instrumental striker for Italy in the upcoming international competitions.

In fact, Retegui has already participated in the latest UEFA Euro 2024 and showed some positive signs.

Yet, the team’s overall performance in that competition did not help him contribute remarkably during his first participation in such a continental competition.

However, his abilities in that tournament further convinced Luciano Spalletti of Reteguis potential and led to him being used more frequently.

He has been the starter for Italy in most of their latest encounters, and he is expected to continue being the starter in the rest of the UEFA Nations League games and, most probably, during the next Euros and World Cup.

This international experience has been helping Retegui in terms of confidence and maturity.

His career has already been long enough for him to gain a lot of maturity and adapt to different playing styles.

He started his career in Argentina at Boca Juniors, where he spent five years and was loaned to Estudiantes, Talleres, and Tigre.

In 2023, he got the opportunity to join Serie A’s Genoa and start his European journey with an overall convincing season with the Rossoblù, attracting the interest of Atalanta, who urgently needed to sign a reliable striker for the new season.

Atalanta spent €22M to win Reteguis services, and he has not disappointed so far.

Although he netted seven goals and provided two assists in 29 appearances for Genoa last season, he proved his skills at Atalanta in his first season with them by scoring 11 goals and providing three assists in 12 league games.

Therefore, it is fair to say that Retegui has been crucial for Atalanta at the start of this season.

He contributed a lot to their holding the second spot in the standings, just one point behind Napoli, the leaders, before the international break.

Moreover, the fact that he was named Serie A’s Player of the Month for October means a lot, as it is not easy to be favoured over numerous talented players from many big teams.

In this tactical analysis and Mateo Reteguis scout report, we will discuss his abilities as a striker and how he has been important in Atalanta and Italy’s tactics.

The analysis will also shed light on other aspects characterising this player besides finishing and movements inside the box, such as playmaking and passing.

But first, let’s begin by studying his mastered roles and positions on the pitch.

Mateo Retegui Position & Role

Wherever he played, Mateo Retegui has always been the team’s striker.

His traits allow him to be very reliable and dangerous in that position and to give his best to help the team.

That being said, he was often used as a second striker, too, whether in 4-4-2 formations or 5-3-2 formations, for instance.

Retegui proved that he excels when playing as a sole striker and as part of an attacking duo.

In terms of roles, Mateo Reteguis style of play has the physical abilities needed to win duels with defenders but is not really a forward who can be used as a pure stationary striker and win all the aerial duels with Serie A defenders.

The 25-year-old wins a significant number of aerial duels, especially during crosses, as he is an excellent header scorer.

Nevertheless, it is not wise to rely on Retegui and opt for long passes to him as a build-up solution.

Instead, providing passes at the back of the defensive line and helping via off-the-ball movement suits Retegui’s abilities the most and can pose a lot of danger to opponents.

Retegui is a dynamic striker who likes to move without the ball and can be effective enough when he attacks space, knowing that these movements need midfielders with excellent vision and attentiveness to spot his movements and make well-timed passes.

Retegui possesses the necessary body coordination when receiving passes, allowing him to turn quickly and aim for a shot.

The Italian international has scored goals on numerous occasions using this skill.

At the same time, he has often been excellent with assists and key passes when he receives the ball in key areas and notices teammates who are better positioned than he is.

This sense of team play makes him an even more valuable player for Atalanta and for the Azzurri.

Moreover, Retegui is a reliable penalty taker and has proven on many occasions that he excels at headers and executes all necessary actions to receive crosses in the most effective way, making finishing easier for himself.

His ability to deal with complicated crosses and remarkably orient his headers eventually leads to more goals per season as he gains much more maturity and experience when finishing actions.

Additionally, mastering acrobatic moves and scoring goals using techniques such as volleys and half-volleys represents a plus in Retegui’s “portfolio” and helps him reach the world-class category of strikers.

The following pizza map highlights Reteguis remarkable goal contribution rates and, more importantly, his ability to provide accurate passes consistently.

Mateo Retegui Radar Map

Mateo Retegui Goalscoring & Finishing Techniques

In terms of finishing, Retegui is becoming one of the best in Italy.

The 25-year-old times his movement, finishes extremely well and knows how to get away from marking quickly and efficiently.

Although he scores