I was scared to join Liverpool - and I only managed eight games before leaving

Former Liverpool defender Gabriel Palletta is a name that not many fans will remember after his short stint in 2006.

He was signed in 2006 by Rafael Benitez from Banfield in Argentina as an exciting 20-year-old but he lasted just one season before returning back to South America. He was eventually replaced by Emiliano Insúa and Palletta’s time was short on Merseyside.

Across eight games, he netted once in the League Cup and provided two assists in all competitions but failed to leave a lasting impact. At the time, he had just played all seven games in Argentina’s U20 World Cup victory as he rubbed shoulders with one of the most exciting young sides in the competition’s history, led by Lionel Messi, Angel Di Maria and Sergio Aguero.

While the deal to bring him to the club had good intentions, he failed to break into the side ahead of Sami Hyypiä and Jamie Carragher and later went on to feature in Serie A for Parma and AC Milan as well as the Italian national team.

After retiring in 2023, he has opened up on how he found himself at Liverpool in 2006. He said, as relayed by PianetaMilan: “After the World Cup [in 2006] there was this possibility, Liverpool were watching me. I was a bit hesitant, going from Argentina to England. “It’s not that I wasn’t convinced but I was a bit scared. River also wanted me, in Argentina. In the end, with the agent I had at the time, we chose Liverpool. It was an incredible change for me.”

Speaking further about the Reds and how the move proved useful to him, he said: “That Liverpool was a spectacular team, with Rafa Benitez. That year was very useful for me to understand the rules within a group.

“There were great people who told you what you had to do, It was also useful on a tactical level, because in Argentina you don’t work a lot. That year, even though I played very few games, made me grow.”

The defender also spoke about how he scored on his League Cup debut and the highlight of his time with the club: “The first game I played, I scored under the Kop. Very nice.”