The 23-year-old centre-forward plays for newly promoted Gimnasia y Esgrima de Mendoza and leads the Clausura scoring charts with three goals from his opening three matches.
Born Agustín Ignacio Módica in Villanova d'Albenga, near Savona, on 12 January 2003 while his Argentine father Pablo was playing in Liguria's amateur leagues for clubs including Albenga and Sanremese, he moved back to Argentina with his family as a child and built his entire career there, coming through Rosario Central's academy before joining Gimnasia in January.
His trajectory once looked set for the very top: in May 2024 he scored four goals in four Copa Libertadores matches for Central. That momentum was halted abruptly in August that year, when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee during a collision with an advertising board, ruling him out for close to a year.
The injury derailed his career at Central, and he restarted in January at Gimnasia, freshly promoted to Argentina's top flight. After a settling-in Apertura tournament (four goals in 13 games), he has exploded in the Clausura, scoring on his opener against Central Córdoba and following up with a brace against Unión de Santa Fe.
Standing around 1.88m and strong in the air, Módica has already drawn attention from Serie A, with Fiorentina said to be tracking him and Juventus previously having assessed him for their Next Gen side.
Speaking to ESPN Argentina after his double against Unión, he was pressed on the possibility of representing Italy: "Every player's dream is to play for the national team. But as I said, I'm focused on the team.
"I'm grateful to my team-mates."
Roberto Mancini, back in charge of Italy and preparing to relaunch the Azzurri against Belgium in September, is understood to be keeping an eye on him, and further weeks of form like this could move him closer to a first call-up.