Could he be Alvarez's replacement?
The market for strikers has become one of the biggest challenges facing European football. Clubs are tying down the world's leading forwards, and finding an exceptional centre-forward without putting a club's finances at risk is close to impossible. Premier League clubs, of course, represent an entirely different case.
Barcelona know the scale of that difficulty very well,according to the Spanish newspaper "Sport". The club spent months exploring their options in attack, with Julian Alvarez top of the list, before Deco produced an alternative card in the form of Gabriel Jesus. He has adapted quickly to Barcelona under Hansi Flick, which is hard not to do with the German coach on the bench.
Then came a name Barcelona's fans had never heard of: Nicolo Tresoldi, the 22-year-old Club Brugge striker. He entered the Catalan club's thinking once the chances of signing Julian Alvarez went from extremely remote to impossible.
Tresoldi stayed put in Belgium. But his stunning start to the league campaign at the Jan Breydel Stadium has Brugge's officials thinking about how to invest the millions that could land in their coffers next summer, provided they first keep hold of him through the winter window.
Clubs won't be the only ones scrapping for one of European football's most prominent rising talents. Several national teams can call upon his services, and he has already made clear he's looking forward to the competition to secure him.
His goalscoring instinct sets him apart, along with his presence inside the box and the ease with which he finds the net. Those qualities do not go unnoticed.
Inter Milan found that out the hard way. Tresoldi punished them with a hat-trick in the Champions League, confirming that his brilliance is no passing spike, and taking his tally to 9 goals in 11 matches.
The striker currently plays for the Germany under-21 side, for whom he has scored 4 goals and provided one assist in the three matches he played during the last international break.
He would be a perfect addition to the German national team, but despite Jurgen Klopp's closeness to him, convincing him to represent Die Mannschaft will not be easy. "I'm Italian, but I'm also German, and my mother is Argentinian! I'll decide at the right time," the player said of his international future.
Italy, no longer resembling their familiar image, would find him an ideal option. Argentina would too, with no striker of the same attributes in the centre-forward role. The final decision rests with the player, who feels no rush to settle his international future.
For now, his focus is Club Brugge and continuing to shine. In the Belgian league, his side sit second on 21 points, just one point behind leaders Gent. In the Champions League, he has already proved he does not need many chances to punish his opponents.
So a thrilling three-way battle looms to land the young striker's services, with Germany, Italy and Argentina all expected to compete to convince him to represent one of them.