Gabriel Paletta
Birthdate: 15 February 1986
Birthplace: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Other clubs: Club Atlético Banfield (2002-06), Boca Juniors (2007-10), Parma (2010-)
Bought from: Club Atlético Banfield
Signed for LFC: £2m, 04.07.2006
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Liverpool debut: 25.10.2006
Last appearance: 05.05.2007
Debut goal: 25.10.2006
Last goal: 25.10.2006
Contract expiry: 26.08.2007
Win ratio: 50% W: 4 D: 0 L: 4
Games/goals ratio: 8
LFC league games/goals: 3 / 0
Total LFC games/goals: 8 / 1
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Player profile
Paletta starred for the Argentinian under-20 team, that won the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, alongside starlets such as Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero. He had come a long way in one year, having established himself at Banfield, a small club in the greater Buenos Aires. Liverpool's scouts were impressed by the towering centre-half and wasted no time signing him. BBC'S South American expert, Tim Vickery, was impressed by the highly-promising defender, but felt at the time Paletta needed "some more mileage before making the move across the Atlantic." He also said: "Paletta is one of those complicated South American cases of a player whose registration is not wholly owned by a club. There are other investors involved, who typically prefer short-term profit to long term career development. Instead he has skipped a stage. Finance has won over football." Vickery proved to be right to assume that Paletta would struggle. He played eight times in Liverpool's first team in his only season at Anfield, mainly in the League Cup but also in the Premier League towards the end of the season when Rafa Benítez had one eye on the upcoming Champions League final when it came to team selection. The young Argentinian clearly had difficulty in adapting to English football, which was painfully clear during Liverpool's 6-3 loss to Arsenal at Anfield in the fifth round of the League Cup.
Paletta joined Boca Juniors at the start of the 2007/08 season. He helped Boca reach the semi-final of the 2008 Copa Libertadores, where the Buenos Aires club lost 5-3 on aggregate to the Brazilians from Fluminense. In July 2010 Paletta left for Italian Serie A club Parma. The Argentinian was clearly more ready now than four years ago to leave his homeland. He has become a firm fixture in the middle of Parma's defence making 60 appearances in two years.