Spain eye move for Mateo Pellegrino, interest heating up | OneFootball

The Spanish National Team is preparing for the Finalissima against the Argentine National Team, and in the Iberian country, they assure that the main request from their coach Luis de la Fuente is precisely an Argentine forward, who is having a great moment in Serie A: Mateo Pellegrino, currently at Parma after making a name for himself at Platense.

According to AS, due to the lack of a natural center forward among his regularly called-up players, the Technical Director of La Roja has reportedly asked Karanka (Director of Development for the national team) to expedite the process to secure the 24-year-old striker, who holds dual nationality having been born in Valencia during his father's time as a player at the institution (1999-2004), although he has lived in Argentina since he was seven and played in the youth divisions at Vélez.

Pellegrino joined Parma at the beginning of 2025 after a successful stint at Platense and a turbulent departure from Fortín, for two million dollars for 50% of his rights. After a start with limited minutes, in the 2025/26 season he took over the center of the attack and is one of the top scorers of the current Serie A season, with four goals to his name.

Although he has not received calls from Lionel Scaloni's national team, in 2019 he was part of a call-up to Fernando Batista's Under-18 team, which he described as "one of the best moments of his career" and hoped it "would not be the last" time he was called up. In this regard, in a conversation with El Equipo de Deportea in 2024, he explained that - if he had to choose - he would prioritize the Albiceleste over La Roja: "If I have the option of both and they offer me the same, I choose Argentina. I feel Argentine. I love Spain a lot, I was born there, I have friends, and I spent many years of my life there, but I consider myself Argentine".

Pellegrino, during his call-up to the Argentine youth team in 2018.

This is not the first time a European national team has recently set its sights on an Argentine player, with the most remembered case being Italy's call-up of Mateo Retegui when he was still at Tigre. The forward became a regular in the Azzurra, while at the club level he had stints at Genoa, Atalanta, and currently defends the colors of Al-Qadsiah, in Saudi Arabia.

Italy also tried to secure Marcos Senesi in 2022, a dispute with the Argentine National Team in 2022 before the Finalissima match where the Albiceleste prevailed, with the former San Lorenzo player being part of Lionel Scaloni's last call-ups and vying for a spot in the squad for the next World Cup.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.