Lucas Piazon Approached by Italian FA
Chelsea FC youngster Lucas Piazon revealed to ESPN Brazil that he has been approached by the Italian Football Association to represent the Azzuri at the international level. Piazon has represented Brazil at the under 15 and under 17 levels but due to the new FIFA regulations he will only be tied to a country if he represents it in the senior team in a competitive fixture. If he stays an attacking midfielder then he will face plenty of competition in the Brazilian team but if he develops in to an out and out striker then it will be significantly easier to find a place.
Lucas spoke to ESPN Brazil and said:
"“[The Italian FA] sounded out my father and my agent, but I said not now. I need to wait for now, I don’t have to take a decision like this when I am 20 years old. Maybe in the future, if I don’t have any chance [with Brazil], and they come to me again, I might even consider the idea, but this is not what I have in mind at the moment.”"
Piazon and his family hold Italian passports and that makes the youngster eligible to play for the Azzuri though he has yet to represent Italy at any level. Having been born in Brazil, this would be another case of a player not being born or having any real connection to the country that he represents. It would be extremely unlikely for Piazon to put on the Italy shirt however as he clearly has aspirations of representing Brazil at the senior level. If he keeps playing the way he has at Vitesse Arnhem when he returns to Chelsea then he will surely get the attention of Luiz Felipe Scolari and the Brazilian national team.
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