The Roma playmaker’s agent has opened the door to the Azzurri, even though the player had already turned down Spalletti’s call-up for Euro 2024. Here’s what the rules say

Matias Soulé in the national team? The openness of the Roma Argentine’s agent gives hope to the Azzurri, who had already tried to convince him in the past under Spalletti, only to come up against his desire to pursue his dream of wearing the Albiceleste shirt. “At the time, I was playing for Frosinone and my coach (Di Francesco, ed.) knew the former coach well. I was staying at Dybala’s house in Rome when I got a message from the coach: ‘Mati, everything okay? Spalletti will call you to call you up.’ And in fact, he called me, congratulated me because I was doing very well, and said he wanted me on the national team because he knew I had an Italian passport,” Soulé revealed last June on Gaston’s YouTube channel Los Edul. He even came to our training center to meet me and tell me that he wanted me and that I had to make a decision because the European Championship was coming up soon. I wasn’t expecting it. Accepting would have been the easiest choice, but I told him that my priority was Argentina and that I would wait. He was understanding. Now I’m waiting for Argentina to call. I know there’s a lot of competition, but I’m continuing to work hard. It’s every child’s dream, and I won’t give up hope.” Is it possible that he changed his mind in just a few months? In any case, why would Matias Soulé play for the Italian national team?

The first reason is that Roma’s number 18 has dual citizenship, thanks to his mother, Virginia Malvano, and his maternal grandparents, who are from Ancona. Secondly, Soulé fully complies with FIFA regulations, which state that players can change national teams provided they have not played more than three games with the senior national team of the country that first called them up, including friendly matches, and all before reaching the age of 21. However, despite having been called up by Scaloni several times in recent years (and also included in the preliminary squad for the World Cup in Qatar), the Argentine has never taken to the field in the Albiceleste shirt. Therefore, the doors of Coverciano could open for him without any problems.