Nicolo Tresoldi's father, Emanuele, has revealed that his family almost moved to Liverpool while their son was still a teenager. Now playing for Club Brugge, the striker scored a hat-trick against Inter in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Family almost moved to Merseyside
Tresoldi, 22, was born in Italy but traveled around as a child because his mother works in civil aviation. Instead of ending up on Merseyside, they moved to Germany, and he joined Hannover 96 as a teenager.
After coming through their academy, he joined Brugge last year. Tresoldi scored 23 goals during his debut season and already has nine in this campaign.
Father reveals chance encounter
Speaking about his son, Tresoldi Snr, who himself played for Atalanta, told La Gazzetta dello Sport: "It all happened by chance. We have traveled a lot for my wife's job, who deals with civil aviation."
"At one point it seemed like we had to move to Liverpool. Instead, we had to go to the headquarters in Hanover, where Nicolo showed that he could be a footballer."
The player's father added: "It was a big leap from the German B (2.Bundesliga), but it helped him to grow as a man. His mother lives with him and helps him with household chores: being alone away from home is not easy".
Record-breaking rise
Tresoldi spent two-and-a-half years playing for Hannover in Germany's second division, going scoreless in his first six months before then grabbing seven goals in each of his first two full seasons.
That compelled Brugge to pay Hannover a club-record fee of up to £8million. However, the striker is now valued at more than three times that amount barely 12 months later.
It is not only Liverpool that missed out, either. Tresoldi could conceivably be playing for England now rather than representing the Germany under-21s - scoring 16 goals in 27 caps to date - while also being eligible to play for Italy.
Future move uncertain
However, any future move the Reds make could be scuppered by a fondness for his homeland. Asked about his son playing in Serie A one day, Tresoldi Snr said: "Maybe yes, his dream is to wear the Milan shirt."
He was also asked what the response would be if Inter wanted him. Tresoldi's father said: "I'm not at all sure he would accept; the soul of the fan could prevail."
The player does speak fluent English, though, as well as German, Italian and Spanish. Several top clubs from across Europe were credited with an interest during the summer transfer window.
