Venezuela coach Fernando Batista has revealed talks with AC Milan striker Daniel Maldini.
The son of Paolo Maldini is currently on-loan with Monza and qualifies for Venezuela through his mother.
Batista told TMW: "Yes, I talked to him. Both with him and with Paolo, his father. We know that he has the opportunity to play with us because of his mother, who is Venezuelan. We invited him to participate in an internship and in the Pre-Olympic work which was held recently in Venezuela with the Under 23s.
“Daniel thanked me strongly, but told me that for the moment he prefers to continue as so, he wants to see if he can play with Italy. We tried, I spoke to both his father and him to invite him to play.
“For the moment he appreciates it a lot, but he wants to wait and understand if he will be able to play for Italy one day, and one must respect that. However, if one day he wants to change his mind and play for Venezuela, the doors are always open.
“We remained on excellent terms with both Daniel and Paolo, if we need to talk about it again, we will.
“As I said, the doors remain open. I also mentioned this to Daniel. Now he has made the decision to wait for Italy and I respect that, but Vinotinto remains available, and I repeat, if we have to talk about it again we will.
“For our part, the intent is there. At the moment he told us no and we respect his choice."
