Players - Gabriel Paletta

Gabriel Paletta
Birthdate: 15 February 1986
Birthplace: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Nationality: Italy
Other clubs: Club Atlético Banfield (2002-06), Boca Juniors (2007-10), Parma (2010-15), AC Milan (2015-18), Atalanta (loan 2015-16), JS Suning (2018-19) AC Monza (2019-)
Signed from: Club Atlético Banfield
Signed for LFC: £2m, 04.07.2006
International debut: 05.03.2014 vs. Spain
International caps: 3/0 - 13.09.2015
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
Games/assists ratio: 4
League games / goals / assists: 3 / 0 / 0
Total games / goals / assists: 8 / 1 / 2

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 earlier to leave his homeland. He has become a firm fixture in the middle of Parma's defence, making over 100 appearances in three years. Paletta was so impressive that the Italian national team utilised the fact that his great-grandfather, Vicenzo, was born in Crotone, Calabria before he emigrated to Argentina. Paletta made his international debut for Italy in a 1-1 friendly against Spain on 5 March 2014 and played against England in the World Cup in Brazil.

The Argentinian defender played in Serie A 21 times for Parma in the 2013/14 season and added two more appearances in the Coppa Italia. Parma's 6th place finish in the league ought to have seen them qualify for the Europa League Third Qualifying Round. But that place went instead of 7th placed Torino because UEFA refused to give Parma a licence because of an overdue tax debt. With Parma imploding financially, he was sold to AC Milan at the end of the January 2015 transfer window and then loaned to Atalanta for 2015/16, where he played 24 times scoring once.

For 2016/17 Paletta was back with AC Milan and a regular in central defence. However in 2017-18 he was out of favour and played just once, in the Europea League, before moving to Chinese Super League side JS Suning in January 2018. He played 24 times in the league for them in the 2018 season, scoring once and remained there for a second year in 2019. In November that year he joined Italian Serie C side Monza, who were declared champions of their section after the season was cut short due to Covid 19. He remained with them at the start of 2020/21, their first campaign in Serie B for twenty years and was also there the following season.

Appearances per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 3 0 3 2 0 8
2006-2007 3 0 3 2 0 8
2007-2008 0 0 0 0 0 0
A more detailed look at the player's appearances
Apps Minutes Opponent
1 90 Portsmouth
1 90 Arsenal
1 90 Birmingham City
1 90 Fulham
1 90 Galatasaray
1 90 Reading
1 29 Wigan Athletic
1 12 PSV Eindhoven
Total Started/substitutions
6 Started
10 On the bench
2 Substitute
0 Substituted
Total Venue
5 Away
3 Home
Total Competition
3 League Cup
3 Premier League
2 Champions League
Total W D L Win % Manager
8 4 0 4 50% Rafa Benítez
Goals per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 0 0 1 0 0 1
2006-2007 0 0 1 0 0 1
2007-2008 0 0 0 0 0 0
A more detailed look at the player's goalscoring
Total Opponent
1 Reading
Total Started/substitutions
1 Started
0 Substitute
Total Competition
1 League Cup
Total Goal minute period
1 46-60 minutes
Total Goal origin
1 Open play
Assists per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 0 0 2 0 0 2
2006-2007 0 0 2 0 0 2
2007-2008 0 0 0 0 0 0
A more detailed look at the player's assists
Total Opponent
2 Arsenal
Total Competition
2 League Cup
Total For player
1 Steven Gerrard
1 Sami Hyypia
Milestone Appearances
# Date Against Stadium Competition
1 25.10.2006 Reading Anfield League Cup
Milestone Goals
# Minute Date Against Stadium Competition
1 49 25.10.2006 Reading Anfield League Cup
Related Articles
Liverpool's Latin Americans

Declan Sloan has put together a complete record of every South American player to wear the famous Red Jersey, from Mauricio Pellegrino in 2005 to newly recruited Roberto Firmino.

Paletta's problem

By Tim Vickery - BBC's South American football reporter on 26th of December 2006.

Hardman Paletta lets his game do all the talking

By Chris Wheeler, Daily Mail 24th July 2006.

Who is Gabriel Paletta? - The lowdown on Liverpool's new Argentine defender

By Tim Vickery South American football reporter on BBC.

Related Quotes

"Paletta is very tough and he's exactly the sort of player we need who will suit the Premiership. When you talk about the Argentinean defenders I worked with in Valencia, Paletta is more like Roberto Ayala than Mauricio Pellegrino. If you're talking about Liverpool, he's more like Jamie Carragher than Sami Hyypia. This is good because we will have a balance in the style of defenders."

Rafa on Paletta at his arrival to Liverpool

Other Clubs
Club Season Club rank League apps League goals Total apps Total goals
Banfield 2005-2006 Argentina 1 43 5 43 5
Boca Juniors 2007-2008 Argentina 1 21 3 23 3
Boca Juniors 2008-2009 Argentina 1 16 0 23 1
Boca Juniors 2009-2010 Argentina 1 22 1 24 1
Parma 2010-2011 Italy 1 27 0 28 0
Parma 2011-2012 Italy 1 33 4 35 4
Parma 2012-2013 Italy 1 35 1 36 1
Parma 2013-2014 Italy 1 21 0 23 0
Parma 2014-2015 Italy 1 7 0 10 0
AC Milan 2014-2015 Italy 1 14 0 14 0
Atalanta 2015-2016 Italy 1 24 1 24 1
AC Milan 2016-2017 Italy 1 30 2 32 2
AC Milan 2017-2018 Italy 1 0 0 1 0
JS Suning 2018 China 1 24 1 27 1
JS Suning 2019 China 1 18 0 19 0
AC Monza 2019-2020 Italy 3 7 1 7 1
AC Monza 2020-2021 Italy 2 19 1 20 1
AC Monza 2021-2022 Italy 2 17 0 20 0
Total 378 20 409 21