🇮🇹 Retegui: Saudi move and Italy call-up? 17 players did it ⚠️
Retagui will go to Saudi Arabia but despite this – according to the Gazzetta dello Sport – it will always be considered by Gattuso for the national team.
This is a decision to change, but it would be in accordance with that of many other national teams, who regularly call some players currently in the Saudi Pro League.
It should be noted the situation of Portugal, which has up to 4 players in Saudi Arabia: CR7, Ruben Neves, Cancelo and Otavio (the only non -central of the Portuguese project).
Al Nassr: 5 players
Al Nassr has 5 players who are often called to their national teams: CR7 And Otavio (Portugal), Sadio Mane (Senegal), Marcelo Brozovic (Croatia), and Laporte (Spain).
Among these players, only Otavio is in doubt for calls, while others are regularly part of their national teams.
Al Hilal: 6 players
The team with the most players in eminent national teams is al-Hilal: Mitrovic And Milinkovic-Sec (Serbia), Ruben Neves And Annulo (Portugal), Koulibaly (Senegal), and Bono (Morocco).
In this case, all the players in the list are either starters or members of major teams for their national teams. There remains a question about Theo Hernandez: do the Deschamps call him despite his transfer?
Al Ahli: 5 players
5 players also for Al-Ahli, who signed Mahrez (Algeria), Demiral (Turkey), Mow (Senegal), Toney (England), and Kessie (Ivory Coast).
The only player in doubt for calls is Ivan Toney: in 2025, he only made one appearance for England, but even before moving to Saudi Arabia, he was not at the top of the hierarchical order, blocked by the presence of Kane.
Al Qadsiah: 1 player
The next Mateo Retagui team was able to count on an “international” player from an important country: namely Nahitan Nandez (Uruguay).
In the past year, Aubameyang has also played for this club, but as it represents Gabon, it did not face a lot of competition for a place of the national team.
Bonus: not called now, but in the past yes
There are also players who are no longer called today but who have been selected in the past by their country even by playing in Saudi Arabia.
These include Kanté (signed in 2023 and a starter for France until 2024); Wijnaldum (signed in 2023 and called by the Netherlands until 2024); Roger Ibanez (signed in 2023 and called by Brazil only once after its transfer); Evilcom (with the same path as Ibanez).
This article was translated into English by artificial intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.
📸 Alessandro Sabattini – 2025 Getty Images
