Before Marco Palestra even sits down, he shakes our hands and issues a warning. “I do speak English, I can answer in English, but if you want the best answer, I need to speak in Italian.”
A 21-year-old made a major life change – moving away from Italy, his home, away from his family, to a scary new country. You can more than cut him some slack. Yet his English was fantastic. He only went back to his mother tongue once throughout the interview.
We are told Palestra was really keen on speaking to the English media for the first time since joining Chelsea. Six journalists sat around a table, asking the Italian, who moved to Stamford Bridge for £47million earlier in the summer, 20 minutes’ worth of questions in a foreign language.
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When moving away from home, especially in foreign land, one of the first things people do is search for home comforts. Anything that reminds you of the warm feeling of being at home.
No surprise, then, that the first thing Palestra did was look for an Italian restaurant. “Yeah, yeah, it was one of the first questions I asked,” a laughing Palestra said. “English food is not bad, but for me, Italian food is a little bit better.
“I don’t know [what it’s called]. There’s one in Cobham, Grappelli. I also ate at two Italian restaurants in London, I don’t remember their names.”
Palestra has been out at three Italian restaurants since moving to England – one, as he said in Cobham, not too far from Chelsea’s training base; the other two in London. Palestra took his family, who will remain in Italy while the defender embarks on a new chapter in his story, with him for the first meal before taking his friends out the other two times. Of course, Palestra had the bill covered.
The former Atalanta defender couldn’t have come across any better as a person in our brief interaction and he has made a pretty good start in terms of his footballing ability at Chelsea over the course of the club’s pre-season tour.
Xabi Alonso is understood to be a huge admirer of Palestra’s ability to cover a number of positions in the defence. Palestra plays at right-back, left-back and can also be used in a more advanced wing-back role.
In the early days of the summer transfer window, Chelsea were quietly weighing up how to approach the Palestra situation. It was clear he was going to leave Atalanta after he flourished for Cagliari on loan last season and Inter Milan, the club he spent some time at as a youth player, had done a lot of groundwork.
Palestra, Milan-born and raised, appeared to be on his way to the San Siro, but in came Chelsea. Like the west Londoners have so often done under BlueCo, they swooped in at the last minute and stole the march.
Alonso has been Chelsea’s ace card this summer in negotiations – see Morgan Rogers agreeing to his record-breaking Stamford Bridge switch – and that proved the case for Palestra.
“He told me what he wanted from me, his ideas, and other things,” said the Italian about his conversation with his new gaffer. “Not only football. Yes, football, for sure, but not only. It was a good conversation about everything, so I was very happy with it.
“He likes me because he sees a lot of games from me. He likes my flexibility and because I can play on the right, the left, lower, high.
“There were some clubs that wanted me but Chelsea, the first moment they wanted me, I agree because they’re one of the biggest clubs in the world. They play in the Premier League which is the best league in the world. I’m excited to come to Chelsea and start here, and play with the teammates, Xabi and all that sort of stuff.”
One of countless things Palestra offers Chelsea is speed – and plenty of it. In fact, the youngster finished last season with an average speed of 27.96km/h (17.37mph). The former Cagliari loanee concluded the 2025/26 campaign as Serie A’s fastest player. Yet speed isn’t something that came naturally to Palestra, in fact it was quite the opposite.
Palestra thought about switching to Italian for this answer but stuck with English: “I try to speak in English but this is a difficult one. When I was young, like 15, I remember I was the slowest one in the team but after maybe one or two years, I grow physically and I change position.
“Before I play in midfield, but I changed position to left-back or at the back, so I understand that I am quick. When I was young, I’m the slowest. It’s crazy, crazy things.”
Not only was he the Usain Bolt of Italian football but he was also crowned Serie A defender of the year. In a league known for its tough defensive players, it was a huge honour for Palestra, who is hoping to replicate such a feat in the Premier League.
“It was a good thing because at the start of the season, I can’t imagine that I win Serie A defender of the year,” said the Chelsea full-back. “It’s a big honour to be the best defender but I know that it is only the start. I need to improve myself everyday but it’s a good start.
“I hope [to become Premier League’s best defender]. Maybe it’s difficult but I said the same at the start of the last season. I try to do my best.
“The first thing I want is to win for Chelsea. It’s always the team. If after the season, I win also the defender of the year, I am happy but I prefer to win something for Chelsea and nothing me.”
Palestra hasn’t met a handful of his Chelsea teammates just yet. Those who were fortunate enough to reach the latter stages of the World Cup are still enjoying an extended break. Reece James is in that group, having helped England to a third-placed finish – but the Chelsea captain has already met Palestra.
Speaking in awe of his new skipper, Palestra recalled: “He wrote to me when I joined Chelsea. [It was a] beautiful message and I said hi to him when he came to Cobham one day after the World Cup. I know he is a good guy, a good captain, so I can’t wait to play with him also. I’m very happy – I know that he is a good guy.”
Pressed on what was in the message, the Italian defender replied: “He said to me that he is happy I joined Chelsea and to write to him for advice, to know London and Cobham.”
Palestra is fitting in well with the Chelsea squad and often spends time with the likes of Aaron Anselmino, Estevao Willian, Joao Pedro and Dario Essugo. The defender has already made quite the impression on a lot of the Chelsea fan base and he is yet to play a competitive match for his new employers.
While not getting too ahead of himself, Palestra realises the Italian connection at Stamford Bridge over the years. Gianfranco Zola, Roberto Di Matteo, Gianluca Vialli – to name just a few. Palestra is hoping to be the next Italian to write himself in Chelsea folklore.
