Italy Moves to Secure Borussia Dortmund Starlet Samuele Inacio
The tug-of-war for Samuele Inacio has started early.
Reports on Thursday suggest the 18-year-old Borussia Dortmund forward could receive a call-up to Italy’s senior squad in September, with the Azzurri ready to hand him a competitive debut to shut the door on Brazil.
This is no routine selection. It’s a race.
A Dual-Nation Jewel
Inacio is one of the standout products of Italy’s youth system, but his international future is anything but straightforward. Born in Bergamo to an Italian mother and a Brazilian father, he sits right on the fault line between two giants of world football.
His father, Pia, knows Italian football well, having turned out for Atalanta, Napoli and several other clubs during his own playing days. Now it is his son drawing the attention, and from the very top.
Inacio left Atalanta as a teenager to join Borussia Dortmund, a club with a sharp eye for attacking talent. His rise has been quick enough to catch the gaze of not just club scouts, but two national federations with World Cup ambitions.
First Taste of the Azzurri
Italy moved first. Interim head coach Silvio Baldini handed Inacio his senior debut in June, in a friendly against Luxembourg. A symbolic step, a clear signal of intent.
But friendlies don’t close the door.
Because that appearance came outside competitive action, FIFA rules still allow Inacio to switch allegiance. Until he plays a competitive fixture, both Italy and Brazil remain on the table.
That is where the tension now lies.
Brazil Step Into the Picture
According to reports from Gianluca Di Marzio, Brazil have not been content to watch from afar. Scouts from the Seleção were in London recently, tracking Inacio during Borussia Dortmund’s pre-season clash with Arsenal at the Emirates Cup.
On August 9 at Emirates Stadium, as Dortmund faced Arsenal in a summer friendly, Inacio was not just playing for match sharpness. He was being weighed up as a potential long-term piece of Brazil’s future.
The reports claim Brazil are considering capping him in a competitive match, a decisive move that would secure his international rights for years.
Italy’s September Plan
Italy, though, still hold the inside track. Thursday’s reports insist Inacio’s “priority” remains with the Azzurri. The Italian federation is said to be working on a plan: get him into a competitive fixture as soon as possible, potentially as early as September.
Even a brief appearance would be enough to tilt his career path permanently toward the blue shirt.
So the stage is set. An 18-year-old forward, one cap in a friendly, two footballing superpowers circling. The next squad list from Italy won’t just be about form or tactics.
It could decide which anthem Samuele Inacio hears for the rest of his career.
