Arnold is due to chow down with Italy legend Totti - who secured the Sassuolo attacker as his first client on becoming a player representative - at a $3000-a-head private Drummoyne Sailing Club soiree on Friday.

Top of the menu, according to reports, will be whether the former Western Sydney Wanderers and Sydney FC junior will opt to continue to develop his international ambitions within Italy’s youth set up or ultimately align himself with his native Australia.

It will be the first ever face-to-face meeting between Arnold and Totti, who oversaw the 20 year old’s $8 million move from Roma to Sassuolo 10 months ago.

However the source told FTBL the Arnold-Totti summit would not come to any concrete conclusions or commitments on where the compass is pointing regarding Volpato’s international allegiance.

Volpato, with 13 Azzurri caps at junior level already under his belt, was called into an Italy U-21 camp last month for the UEFA youth international qualifiers against Latvia and Turkey, but didn’t end up playing after falling sick.

The Sydney-born prodigy was close to committing to Australia after a meeting with Arnold in Italy last year but subsequently pulled back after being advised by Totti, and pressured by Sassuolo, to retain his ties with Italy. At least for the time being.

The source said: “Nothing has really changed and it won’t in the short-term at least. Any talks Graham Arnold has with Francesco Totti isn’t going to alter things too much. All the options are still open. Nothing is set in concrete.”

Of far more immediate significance, according to sources in Italy, is where Volpato will be playing his club football next season, with new Sassuolo coach Davide Ballardini, who replaced Alessio Dionisi in a bid to avoid dropping out of Serie A, not apparently a Volpato advocate.

The playmaker/winger, with 19 appearances and a single goal for second last Sassuolo, has been linked with a possible post-season move to La Liga outfit Rayo Vallecano, Everton, or Serie A rivals Verona or Monza, should Sassuolo opt to sell him.

Volpato is contracted to Sassuolo until 2026, but the arrival of Ballardini does not appear to augur well regarding his first team prospects in the short term at least.

An indication of that came in the recent 3-3 home draw against AC Milan, when Volpato - with Sassualo leading 2-1 at the break - was withdrawn after 46 minutes despite being one of the home side's most effective first half performers.

He came off the bench at half time in last weekend's 3-0 home loss to Lecce, without being able to affect the eventual outcome.