How Has Mateo Retegui Dominated The Serie A This Season?

Mateo Retegui has taken Serie A by storm this season, having helped fire Atalanta into the league title picture. With 20 goals from 23 appearances, the Atalanta striker leads the Serie A top goal scoring charts - a five goal lead over second place.

With performances such as the first-half hat trick against Verona, a brace against league leaders Napoli and a Champions League double against Young Boys. Retegui finds himself on the lips of not just Italian football but on a global stage.

From alternative to talisman, we take a look into how the Italian striker has managed to dominate Serie A and how he was able to reach superstorm.

Retegui has been 𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙡 this season ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/bK2gLKqjvB

— LiveScore (@livescore) February 10, 2025

The story so far

Having been purchased from Genoa for $28 million, the Italian striker was viewed as a perfect candidate to fill the void left by Gianluca Scamacca, who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Retegui’s lone season with Genoa resulted in nine goals in 31 appearances, a fairly successful debut in the Italian top division. Retegui led all Genoa players for shots per 90 (2.6), and was second in expected goals per 90 (0.24), despite playing just 65% of available minutes in Serie A.

A big night for Genoa’s new gunman Mateo Retegui who nets his First ever Serie A goal in a massive win in Rome vs Lazio.

This is his 3rd goal in his 3rd official appearance since arriving in Italy from Tigres. Does he have a cemented spot in the new Spalletti era?⚽️⚽️⚽️🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/NKpZkdFxWk

— AzzurriXtra🇮🇹 (@XtraAzzurri) August 27, 2023

Having grown up in Argentina, Retegui came through the River Plate academy before being signed by Boca Juniors. After making just one appearance for La 12, Retegui would be sent on loan to various clubs.

Spells with Estudiantes and Talleresit gave Retegui a taste of professional football, scoring 12 goals in 90 appearances over four seasons.

However, a loan spell to Tigre in 2022 would change the trajectory of Retegui’s career forever. The striker would score 23 goals in 42 appearances during the 2022 campaign, resulting in his stay being extended for another season.

The Italian striker would follow up his breakout season with a further 12 goals in 28 goals for a struggling Tigre side.

These performances caught the eye of Italy manager Roberto Mancini, who selected Retegui for the Italian national team, despite having represented Argentina at youth level.

The striker had been eligible to represent Italy through his grandparents.

Mateo Retegui to Genoa, here we go! Agreement in place with Italian national team striker who joins from Tigre 🔴🔵 🇦🇷🇮🇹 #SerieA

Understand Retegui will undergo first part of medical on Monday then sign in Genova on Tuesday.

Wolves tried — but FFP issues made it impossible. pic.twitter.com/35Ce9SaXRv

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 23, 2023

With such a meteoric rise, the newly capped Italian would earn a move to the country he represented, as Genoa snapped the striker up for $15 million from parent club Boca Juniors.

Style of play

Known for his ability to run channels and get into dangerous areas off the ball, Retegui possesses a constant threat for defenders. Having scored 20 goals from an xG of just 12.75 in Serie A, the Italian has established himself as one of the most clinical strikers in Europe at the moment.

Retegui’s xG differential of 7.25 bests the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Mohamed Salah, Erling Haaland, Robert Lewandowski and Harry Kane.

The Atalanta striker also averages 1.30 goals per 90 minutes. Retegui is able to find such success in front of goal thanks to his ability to play on the last line of defence, using half-spaces and not being caught in an offside position.

One of the most underrated players. No one is speaking on how good Retegui has been this season. pic.twitter.com/e1UcmRTypK

— Liam Wilko (@CFCLiamW) February 18, 2025

While his ability to finish with his feet is well established, the Italian is also an aerial threat - scoring five headed goals this season. Winning 2.02 aerial duels per 90, Retegui is in the top 81 percentile of players. His ability to challenge and win headers adds another dynamic to Atalanta’s attack.

An example of this would be Retegui’s goal against Torino, earlier in the campaign. Finding himself between two defenders, using a decoy run forwards before ultimately stopping in position to get between two defenders and head the ball into the back of the net.

On the playmaking side of things, Retegui’s comfortability playing with his back to goal, allows for teammates to create goal scoring positions themselves.

What’s next?

With a breakout campaign that can only be compared with some of the all time greats, Retegui will be hoping that he can sustain this level of play for seasons to come with some of Europe’s top clubs circling.

Retegui will also have the hopes of millions of Italians on his shoulders, having scored six goals in 18 appearances for Gli Azzurri.

Despite victory at Euro 2020, Italy have failed to find the consistency they once had at major tournaments with many believing the lack of elite talent in the striker position to be an area for concern.

However with the emergence of Mateo Retegui, Italians will be hoping they have put an end to that pursuit finding their golden boy at last.