Fabio Paratici (born 13 July 1972 in Borgonovo Val Tidone) is an Italian former football player. He is the Managing Director of Football for English club Tottenham Hotspur.[1] He previously worked for about eleven years as Chief Football Officer of Italian club Juventus.[2]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1972-07-13) 13 July 1972 (age 50) | ||
| Place of birth | Borgonovo Val Tidone, Italy | ||
| Position(s) | Defender, Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Piacenza | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1989–1991 | Piacenza | 5 | (0) |
| 1991–1992 | Palazzolo | 11 | (0) |
| 1992–1994 | Fiorenzuola | 43 | (0) |
| 1994–1995 | Sassuolo | 5 | (0) |
| 1995–1996 | Pavia | 31 | (1) |
| 1996 | Sassuolo | 0 | (0) |
| 1997 | Marsala | 15 | (0) |
| 1997–1998 | Novara | 28 | (1) |
| 1998–1999 | Palermo | 16 | (0) |
| 1999–2000 | Lecco | 21 | (0) |
| 2000–2001 | Savoia | 27 | (1) |
| 2001 | Giugliano | 19 | (0) |
| 2002–2004 | Brindisi | 48 | (2) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Paratici began his career in the Piacenza youth sector.[3] In 1989, he made his professional debut with Piacenza, playing in Serie C1, the 3rd tier of Italian Football at the time.[3] During his career, Paratici frequently moved throughout the lower divisions of Italian Football, playing for various clubs in Serie C1 and Serie C2. He retired in 2004 at the age of 31, having played for 12 different clubs in 15 years.
Upon retiring, Paratici was hired as the Chief Observer/Head of Scouting for Sampdoria in 2004.[4] During his tenure at Sampdoria, Paratici worked closely with the club's Director General and subsequently its CEO, Giuseppe Marotta, with the press calling him Marotta's "right-hand man."[5] Paratici has described their work as "complementary."[6]
In August 2008, Paratici was allegedly approached by Urbano Cairo, owner and chairman of Torino, and offered the position of Sporting Director General. Sampdoria, and in particular Marotta, were "furious" at these rumors and accused Cairo of going behind their backs trying to lure Paratici, who was still under contract with Sampdoria until 2009.[5]
In May 2010, Paratici moved from Sampdoria to Juventus, along with Director General Giuseppe Marotta and Manager Luigi Delneri. At Juventus, Paratici was appointed Head of Technical Affairs and Sporting Director by president Andrea Agnelli.[4][7] Sampdoria owner Riccardo Garrone was furious with Giuseppe 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.[8]
On 26 May 2021, after eleven years with the Turin club, Paratici left Juventus[9]
On 12 June 2021, Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur announced that Paratici would be taking over as their Managing Director of football.[1] In his first season as Managing Director of Football, Tottenham signed two players directly from his former club Juventus Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur, as well as former Juve product Cristian Romero, who all made significant contributions to Tottenham's successful top four challenge. [10][11]