Why Italy cannot call up Ahanor until 2026, but Tresoldi is available now

Originally posted on Football Italia | By Susy Campanale | Last updated Oct 7, 2025 12:31 PM ET

While Gennaro Gattuso confirmed Italy are in talks to call up Nicolò Tresoldi and Honest Ahanor, they have very different legal situations, despite both being born in the Peninsula.

The Azzurri are looking to the future for new players who can bolster the options available to coach Gattuso.

He stated in today’s press conference that the Federation has been working for some time on being able to call up 21-year-old Club Brugge striker Tresoldi and 17-year-old Atalanta left-back Ahanor.

However, due to the complicated Italian system, they have very different legal positions.

Both of them were born on Italian soil, but that alone is insufficient to obtain Italian citizenship.

Why Ahanor and Tresoldi have different Italian citizenship status

Tresoldi remained in Italy until the age of 13 and then his family moved to Germany, where he started playing football, representing Germany at Under-21 level.

The 21-year-old’s parents have Italian passports, so he would be available to represent the Nazionale straight away.

However, Ahanor was born in Italy to Nigerian parents, so even though his family has put forward all the necessary paperwork already, he cannot be granted Italian citizenship until his 18^th birthday.

That won’t be until February 2026, so Italy cannot call him up until then.

Nigeria could spot a gap and call Ahanor up before that date, therefore blocking him from representing the Azzurri.

It is a similar problem to the one experienced by Mario Balotelli, who was born in Italy and adopted by an Italian family at the age of 2, but could not represent the Nazionale until his 18 ^th birthday.

This article first appeared on Football Italia and was syndicated with permission.

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