Marco Palestra

Marco Palestra (born 3 March 2005) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a right-back or right wing-back for club Chelsea and the Italy national team.

Club career Palestra began playing football with GS Assago where he stayed four years, had a year long stint with Inter Milan's academy before finally finishing his development with Atalanta's academy starting in 2014. Originally a central midfielder, at U17 level he was converted to a winger and then a right-back. He was promoted to the newly created Atalanta U23's in their debut season in the 2023–24 Serie C. He made his senior and professional debut with the senior Atalanta team as a substitute in a 4–0 UEFA Europa League win over Raków Częstochowa on 14 December 2023. He was loaned to fellow Serie A club Cagliari for the 2025–26 season. On 24 January 2026, he scored his first Serie A goal and provided an assist in a 2–1 away victory over Fiorentina.

Palestra signed a seven-year contract with Premier League club Chelsea on 1 July 2026, for an initial transfer fee worth approximately £43 million, with a further £5 million available in performance-related add-ons.

International career Palestra is a youth international for Italy. In September 2023, he was called up to the Italy U18s for a set of friendlies. In November 2023 he was called up to the Italy U19s for a set of 2024 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification matches.

In March 2026, he was called up to the senior Italy team for the first time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification play-offs. He made his debut on 26 March in a 2–0 win over Northern Ireland in the play-off semi-finals. He also played in the play-off final against Bosnia, which Italy lost on penalties and resulted in them failing to qualify for a third successive World Cup.

Career statistics Club

International

Honours Atalanta UEFA Europa League: 2023–24

Individual Serie A Best Defender: 2025–26 Serie A Team of the Season: 2025–26