Gabriel became the second Argentine to play for the reds when RafaBenitez snapped him up for £2m in July 2006. The tough tackling centreback was regarded as one of the finest prospects in Argentine football,and River Plate boss, the legendary Daniel Passarella, had been hopingto persuade Paletta to join his side. Gabriel spurned his advanceshowever, and embarked on his European dream by moving from Banfield toAnfield.
He made his debut for Banfield in 2005, but came to prominenceplaying for his country in the FIFA World u20 Championships. He playedall seven games at the heart of the defence as an Argentinian sideinspired by Lionel Messi lifted the trophy.
The following season (2005/06) saw Gabriel play 30 games for Banfield,and he even managed to find the net on a couple of occasions. He was billed as a typicalArgentine defender, strong, aggressive who takes no prisoners.
His first game for Liverpool came in a pre-season friendly at Wrexhamand he made an immediately favourable impression with the fans with hiscombative style and assuredness in possession. He began the season inthe reserves, and had to wait until the Carling Cup before he featuredfor the senior side. His debut came against Reading, and he marked itin some style with a headed goal at the Kop end.
He also played against Birmingham in the next round and made his ChampionsLeague bow in the 3-2 defeat at Galatasaray. He'd done ok in thosegames, but his lack of pace was severely exposed by Arsenal's frontlinein the Gunners' 6-3 Carling Cup success at Anfield. He wasn't seen inthe first team for a while after that, only appearing again towards theend of the season when Benitez rested a number of players in thePremier League so they could concentrate on the CL semi final and final.
It was now becoming clear that the big defender was not suited to Englishfootball and he returned home to Argentina with Boca Juniors in a dealthat saw Emiliano Insua move to Anfield in exchange.
After a couple of years back in Argentina, Paletta opted to chance hisarm in Europe again with a move to Serie A side Parma. This timehe was ready for the demands of playing in a big European league and hehas proved to be a solid and dependable performer for the Italian side,so much so that AC Milan tried to sign him on the summer of 2013 onlyto be put off by a €35m price tag. No, I haven't left a decimalpoint out of the middle, that was THIRTY FIVE MILLION. Amazing.
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