Until just a few days ago, nobody in Europe knew about Argentine-born star Mateo Retegui, but after he scored two goals in two games for Italy, he already became a favorite of Azzurro fans.
The effect Retegui, with his goals against England and Malta, proved to be a success that caused a sensation in Italy.
The main objective of the entire Italian football governing body is the search for new faces with the idea of laying a solid foundation that will allow them to qualify for the 2026 World Cup - they did not qualify in 2018 and 2022 - and for Euro 2024, as a short-term goal.
For this reason, the aims of the former Manchester City manager Mancini do not seem to be on the typical promises of Italian football, but will try to resort to the phenomenon of nationalization of players.
Although it may seem strange that a footballer decides to take the nationality of a country where he was not born, this is something that has become more usual than in previous years, with Mateo Retegui or Alejandro Garnacho being a clear example in this case.
Therefore, according to Tutto Sport, the ten players who are in Italy's sights are:
Lucas Beltran (River), Nicolas Valentini (Boca), Nicolas Capaldo (Salzburg), Pedro De La Vega (Lanus), Gianluca Prestianni (Velez), Tomas Pozzo (Independiente), Ignacio Maestro Puch (Atletico Tucuman), Gino Infantino (Rosario Central), Juan Sforza and Justo Gianni (both Newell's).
Each of them are well known and renowned in Argentinean football and several of them have even worn the Argentine shirt in the youth national teams, as is the case of Capaldo, Infantino, Maestro Puch, among others.
Currently, according to the individual performance that each one has been showing so far in the local championship, Beltrán, De La Vega and Sforza may be the most striking of the present list.
Other players such as Infantino and Maestro Puch could cause a headache if they leave for Italy, as they have so far proved to be a permanent fixture in the Argentina youth team, the Rosario Central midfielder being the captain of the national team.
Nor should we leave out Capaldo, the former Boca player who has been in the Austrian league for almost three years now, where he has been a starter from the moment he arrived and has had a lot of Champions League and Europa League experience - he has played in stadiums such as Anfield and the Olympic Stadium in Rome.
What is clear from the fact that none of the players are over 24-year-old (Capaldo) is that Mancini's intentions are not only to strengthen his team in the present but also for the future.
Furthermore, what increases the chances of several of the players on the list agreeing to wear the Italian blue shirt is that so far they do not seem to be in the consideration of Lionel Scaloni and the rest of the coaching staff.
"Let's hope that if he plays for Italy he does well, it makes no sense to think about whether he would have been in Argentina, because right now we were not convinced to call him up," were the words of the World Cup winning coach himself about Retegui's call-up.
Undoubtedly, the effect generated by the former Boca player Reregui seems to have moved the ground within the Italian coaching staff and will surely make Argentine football begin to be watched more closely. The Tigre striker can think about sharing a national team with a colleague.