We don’t want to jinx Marco Palestra, but the stats suggest that Chelsea are getting themselves a very tidy player.
Chelsea have triggered a “here we go” from Fabrizio Romano after striking a verbal agreement to sign Marco Palestra for a package exceeding £47 million.
The Blues moved quickly to overtake Inter Milan, despite their long-standing pursuit of the 21-year-old, who spent last season excelling on loan at Cagliari, where he was named Serie A’s Best Defender.
Driven heavily by Xabi Alonso, Palestri has agreed to a long-term contract running until 2032.
RATE 1️⃣-🔟: Is Marco Palestra a good signing?
Serie A's Best Defender of 2025-26.
The early signs with Marco Palestra are promising
No Chelsea player averaged more total duels in the Premier League last season than Marco Palestra, who posted an elite 6.7 duels won per game during his Serie A loan spell with Cagliari.
To contextualise his physical and defensive dominance, Chelsea’s top duel-winner last season, forward Joao Pedro, registered 4.8 successful duels per game, followed closely by central midfielder Moises Caicedo at 5.7 per 90 minutes.
Among Chelsea’s defensive options, Marc Cucurella and Malo Gusto averaged 3.8 and 2.7 duels won per game, respectively.
For Xabi Alonso, this profile is highly valuable; it guarantees that Chelsea have bagged themselves a reliable figure in a position that has caused them issues.
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Marco Palestra originated as a midfielder
Marco Palestra’s path to becoming one of Europe’s most sought-after wing-backs stems from an accidental positional shift during his academy days at Atalanta.
Initially developing as a central midfielder, he was reluctantly moved to left-back under the Under-17s to cover for an injury crisis. Though the unexpected tactical switch initially frustrated him, a subsequent move to the right side completely transformed his career.
While Chelsea are completely stacked for options in midfield and have players in other positions who can play there like Reece James, it’s handy to have another versatile player on board.
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