Italy, once upon a time there was Retegui: is the 40 million received enough to say yes to Juventus?

Mateo Retegui’s name has resurfaced among those linked with Juventus’s attack. He has lost his place in the national team and has been playing in Saudi Arabia for a year and a half on a huge salary. Are the conditions in place for his return to Italy?

Italy's failure to qualify for the World Cup, a change of head coach in the national team's dugout and the rise of a new generation, symbolised by Pio Esposito's breakthrough, have left Mateo Retegui out of the national team since March. The Italian-Argentinian last played for Italy on the night in Zenica when they lost on penalties to Bosnia in the World Cup play-off. His last goals for Italy came in October 2025, when he scored twice against Israel in Udine.

Born in 1999 in San Fernando, in the province of Buenos Aires, Retegui has kept scoring for Al-Qadisiya in Saudi Arabia: 46 appearances and 29 goals since the summer of 2025, including 15 appearances and 10 goals this season. Still, he has not earned another Italy call-up, despite Roberto Mancini being in the Al-Qadisiya dugout. Mancini is his mentor, the man who effectively discovered him in Argentina and brought him into the national team in March 2023. For now, Mancini has decided not to include Retegui in this new phase for Italy.

Some say Retegui, after Al-Qadisiya bought him from Atalanta for 67 million and he signed a four-year deal worth 20 million per season from 2025 to 2029, has lost some of the aggression, competitive drive and hunger that helped him break through at Tigre, after spells at Boca Juniors, Estudiantes and Talleres, and become Serie A's top scorer with Atalanta in 2024–25, with 25 goals in 36 league matches.

Juventus have recently been linked with a move for Retegui as they search for a centre-forward capable of hitting double figures in the league, as Chapita has shown he can. Sorloth and Balogun remain Juventus' priorities, but a move for Retegui cannot be ruled out. Unlike the other two, the former Genoa and Atalanta player already knows Italian football and remains a potential Italy international who could be part of the Italian core Juventus hope to rebuild.

Retegui's salary and the timing would make a deal difficult, more so than the transfer fee. A January move, when Juventus urgently need to act, looks difficult because of the costs. In the summer, after his first two years in Arabia, a deal would be more plausible, with a transfer fee of around 35 million and Retegui giving up the remaining two years of his contract, though he would already have pocketed 40 million. What matters is what Retegui wants, and whether he has the desire to prove himself again and start fighting once more.