Fabio Paratici

Born in Borgonovo Val Tidone, in the province of Piacenza, Emilia Romagna, on 13 July 1972, Paratici began playing in Borgonovese, a club in his native town with which he won several youth championships. He was a right-back defender and midfielder; over the course of his career, he was deployed as a wild card in all roles in the defence and midfield. In 1986, he moved to Piacenza, where he became captain of the Campionato Nazionale Primavera team coached by Natalino Gottardo that included future star Filippo Inzaghi. In the 1989–90 Serie C1, he made his debut in the first team, playing 5 games in the season finale. At Piacenza, Paratici won the 1990–91 Serie C1. In the following years, he was loaned to the lower divisions, first to Palazzolo and then to Fiorenzuola, where he remained for two seasons, and won a promotion to Serie C1. At the end of the 1993–94 Serie C1 season, Paratici was involved in a car accident; he suffered numerous fractures that left him injured for a year. Paratici resumed activity in the 1995–96 Serie C2 season as a starter with Pavia. He was not confirmed and briefly joined the Serie D with Sassuolo, and then played for Marsala. In 1997, he was hired by Serie C2-demoted Novara, and signaled himself as one of the best players of the 1997–98 Serie C2. At the end of the season, he joined the Palermo of Massimo Morgia, who had coached him in Marsala. In 1998, he moved to Lecco for the 1998–99 Serie C1 season. He then joined Savoia for the 2000–01 Serie…

Upon retiring, Paratici was hired as the chief observer and head of scouting for Sampdoria in 2004. During his tenure at Sampdoria, Paratici worked closely with the club's sporting director and subsequently its CEO, Giuseppe Marotta; the press called him Marotta's "right-hand man". During this management, Sampdoria achieved important goals, such as the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round with the first team and the first place for the youth team in the 2009–10 Campionato Primavera. Paratici described their work as "complementary". In August 2008, Paratici was allegedly approached by Urbano Cairo, owner and chairman of Torino, and offered the position of sporting director. Sampdoria and in particular Marotta were upset about these rumours, and accused Cairo of going behind their backs trying to lure Paratici, who was still under contract with Sampdoria until 2009. In May 2010, Paratici moved from Sampdoria to Juventus, along with Marotta and coach Luigi Delneri. At Juventus, Paratici was appointed head of technical affairs and sporting director by chairman Andrea Agnelli. Sampdoria owner Riccardo Garrone was reported to be upset with Marotta for taking Paratici with him to Juventus, as Garrone had expected Paratici to inherit the role of director general at Sampdoria, and subsequently threatened to block any transfers to Juventus as retaliation. At Juventus, Paratici is notable for his transfer moves that brought the club a cycle of successes,…