Manchester United youngster Gabriele Biancheri has been called up to Canada’s senior squad.
Biancheri has represented Wales’ youth teams throughout the age groups and Craig Bellamy recently named the young forward in his senior squad for a training camp in Spain.
Cardiff-born Biancheri is eligible to represent the nations of both his father (Italy) and his mother (Canada), as well as that of his birthplace (Wales). That has seen Canada’s national team make an approach and Biancheri has accepted their invitation to join an upcoming training camp.
Biancheri is considering his international future and Canada manager Jesse Marsch provided insight into discussions with the player when he spoke at a press conference on Thursday.
When asked about Biancheri, Marsch responded: “I’ve had good conversations with Gabe and his family. He has several options to think about in what country he wants to represent.
“I always feel like, for a lot of the dual nationals that I’m talking to, the best way for them to really feel how great it is to be around this team is to be around the team, because the guys are great, the environment is really strong and open.
“And I know that once they come in and work with the guys and see the mentality of the overall group, they’re always going to enjoy it. We’re excited to have him. He’s still young and he still plans to be with the Under-21s of Wales as well, but I think it will be really good to spend some time with us in Toronto.”
March continued: “He’s a dynamic player, he’s very good around the goal. He’s a striker that can play up on the backline but also is good at coming underneath and connecting plays and being part of the build-up phase.
“I talked to him about how he thinks he would fit into us and how I think he would benefit from the experience of being with us. I spoke with his father and his mother at length, and we talked about the overall opportunity of what it would mean to play for the Canadian national team.
“I think it’s really important that the family feels the connection to Canada. I’ve always wanted to make sure that what it means to be Canadian and what it means to represent the Canadian national team is in their heart, that it’s something that is true to who they are.
“So I think this will be good for Gabe, to see what the experience is like, and then to see how he fits in. The striker position is competitive with us, but he’s still young, and I think he could have the opportunity to establish himself as a flexible player in the way we play, a little bit like how [Lille and Canada forward] Jonathan David plays.”
Biancheri has taken part in several first-team training sessions at Carrington, but he hasn’t been named in a matchday squad, despite building an impressive goalscoring record at United.
Biancheri has been the most prolific scorer in the academy this season – he has more goals than Chido Obi – and he possesses the quality to play in different attacking roles.
Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee have both struggled to score this season. They have just 17 goals between them in all competitions and United will sign a new striker in the summer.
a006kc