Nicolò Tresoldi’s first evening at San Siro carries a private tension beyond Club Brugge’s meeting with Inter. Born in Cagliari, raised football-wise in Germany and now established in Belgium, the 2004-born forward arrives at the stadium as a lifelong Milan supporter — a boyhood attachment that could one day turn a European visit into something much closer to home.
Key takeaways
- Tresoldi will experience San Siro for the first time while representing Club Brugge against Inter.
- His father Emanuele says Milan has been Nicolò’s dream club since childhood, inspired by Kaká, Filippo Inzaghi and Alexandre Pato.
- The striker is still weighing up whether his senior international future belongs with Italy or Germany.
- He is two goals short of the Germany Under-21 scoring record and intends to finish that cycle before making a decision.
- Club Brugge has represented a significant step after German second-tier football, both professionally and personally.
A Milan dream beside an Inter occasion
Emanuele Tresoldi, 52, will be in the stands for an occasion carrying considerable family pride. A former full-back who played for Atalanta before the Gasperini era, he has watched his son build a route that has rarely followed a straightforward line.
He described Nicolò’s progress as the reward for persistence. In his view, the forward did not emerge with the exceptional natural gifts of a star or the imposing frame of a traditional target man. Instead, he has worked his way forward, gradually reaching the level that now brings him to one of Italian football’s defining venues.
The father was typically light-hearted when asked whether his son had already surpassed him as a player, saying his own advantage lies only in skiing — an activity Nicolò cannot take up because of his contract.
The family’s journey has been shaped by his mother’s work in civil aviation. A possible move to Liverpool eventually became a relocation to Hannover, where Tresoldi began to show that football could become more than an ambition. Germany became the place of his development, even though his roots remain firmly Italian.
His move from the German second division to Brugge has been an important leap. Emanuele believes the experience has helped Nicolò mature away from the pitch as well as on it. His mother lives with him in Belgium and assists with everyday life, an arrangement the family considers valuable for a young player living far from home.
There remains room for growth. Emanuele characterises his son as an all-round forward rather than a specialist in one outstanding attribute, meaning that his development must continue across the board. The belief within the family is that he will make those improvements.
For now, however, San Siro is not simply another away stadium. Tresoldi has supported Milan since he was young, and his father recalls that the affection began with the Rossoneri sides featuring Kaká, Inzaghi and Pato. It was an allegiance nobody could persuade him to change.
That feeling also colours the hypothetical question of an Inter approach. Emanuele is far from convinced his son would accept, suggesting that the instinct of the supporter could ultimately outweigh the opportunity. If Serie A becomes part of Tresoldi’s future, Milan remains the shirt he most wants to wear.
An international choice still to come
Tresoldi’s club rise has also brought a more complicated decision over international football. Roberto Mancini has already shown interest, while Germany’s senior coach, Jürgen Klopp, has also made contact. Yet the striker has not given a final answer.
The immediate reason is a commitment he made to Germany’s Under-21 set-up. Tresoldi promised the coach that he would complete the current cycle, and he sits only two goals away from the age-group’s scoring record. The European Championship will provide the natural point at which to review the situation.
His father insists the choice must belong to Nicolò alone and should be made from conviction rather than technical calculation. He recognises the pull of Italy: Nicolò was born there and belongs to an Italian family. But he also understands what Germany has given his son, from his formative years to the platform that launched his career.
Tresoldi speaks four languages and, in his father’s words, has become a citizen of the world. Whichever national team he chooses will leave someone disappointed. The family’s position is that the eventual decision deserves respect, particularly after a career path built across borders rather than within one football culture alone.
