Defender · #2

Marco Palestra

Italy · 6'1" · 21

$58.7M

From Atalanta

$205K

per week

Apps

Goals

Assists

His role

Palestra is an attacking right wing-back. He stretches the pitch, carries the ball forward at speed and arrives around the box like the midfielder he used to be. His running gives Chelsea a more aggressive option on that side than a conventional full-back.

His story

01
Record
£43m for a player with 94 games behind him
Palestra had made only 94 senior appearances, scored four goals and spent his one full Serie A season on loan at Cagliari. Chelsea paid £43m for him anyway. It is less a reward for the career he has already had than a very expensive bet on the player he might become.
02
Drama
His second Italy cap was the night Italy went out
Italy first called Palestra up for the World Cup play-offs in March 2026. He made his debut in the semi-final and helped them win 2-0; four days later, his second cap came in the final against Bosnia. Italy lost on penalties and missed a third consecutive World Cup, so one of his first two international matches became a national crisis.
03
Off the pitch
He was a midfielder until somebody moved him
Palestra began in central midfield, moved to the wing at under-17 level and was eventually pushed back to right-back. That journey explains why he attacks with the instincts of a player who once lived much closer to goal. Inter had him for a year as a boy before Atalanta signed him at nine and shaped the rest.