Marco Parolo played for Lazio from 2014 to 2021.
Marco Parolo was born in Gallarate (Milan), on 25 January, 1985.
He started his professional career at Como in C1 in 2004. At the end of the season Como were relegated and folded so Parolo moved on to Chievo Verona from where he was immediately loaned to Pistoiese (C1) for two seasons. In 2007 he returned to Chievo only to be loaned to Foligno (C1) for €500. In 2008 he again returned to Chievo this time for €50,000 but then sold to city rivals Verona, only to return to Chievo for virtually nothing at the end of the season.
Parolo's coming and going, to and from Chievo, finally came to an end in 2009 when he was loaned out to Cesena in Serie B. It was in Romagna he got his breakthrough winning promotion and at the end of the season was actually bought by the club. Parolo made his Serie A debut against Roma on 28 August 2010. Parolo performed well for Cesena and even got a call up by the National "Azzurri".
In 2012 he was loaned to Parma in Serie A. He played two solid seasons in Emilia and attracted Lazio's interest. In 2014 he was bought by Lazio for €4.5 million.
Parolo had an excellent career in Rome. He was a first team choice for seven seasons. He rarely missed a game due to suspension or injury and despite playing in a holding role in midfield often got himself in goal scoring positions. In one away game at Pescara in 2017 he actually scored 4 times!
Parolo played a total of 265 games for Lazio (211 in Serie A, 21 in Coppa Italia, 7 in Champions League, 24 in Europa League and two Super Coppa finals) with 39 goals (27 in Serie A, 3 in Coppa Italia, 2 in Champions League and 7 in Europa League).
At International level he won 36 caps over a 7-year period.
Parolo retired from Lazio, and football in 2021, at the age of 36.
Parolo was a physical, reliable, hard-working, box to box midfielder. He was not a particularly quick player but had good timing, positioning and at 1.83 metres was useful in the air. He had defensive qualities as well as powerful, accurate shooting abilities. His number 16 shirt could be seen in all areas of the field. He was versatile and could be deployed in various positions including right-sided winger or wing back or even as central defender on some occasions.
At Lazio Parolo won the Coppa Italia in 2019 (Atalanta) and 2 Italian Supercups in 2017 and 2019 (both against Juventus). He will be remembered positively in the capital; he was a regular for seven years and stood out for his work rate enriched by several important goals. He was respected on and off the pitch as an exemplary professional and was almost old style; no tattoos, trendy haircuts or expensive jewellery. To be a footballer he was considered to be of above average culture and was always intelligent and articulate in interviews. He is now using these skills in punditry working for DAZN TV on Serie A matches.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Europa League | Super Coppa |
2014-15 | 40 (11) | 34 (10) | 6 (1) | - | - | - |
2015-16 | 40 (6) | 31 (3) | - | 2 | 7 (3) | - |
2016-17 | 38 (5) | 34 (5) | 4 | - | - | - |
2017-18 | 43 (6) | 31 (4) | 3 | - | 8 (2) | 1 |
2018-19 | 42 (6) | 34 (4) | 4 | - | 4 (2) | - |
2019-20 | 37 (2) | 29 (1) | 2 (1) | - | 5 | 1 |
2020-21 | 25 (3) | 18 | 2 (1) | 5 (2) | - | - |
Total | 265 (39) | 211 (27) | 21 (3) | 7 (2) | 24 (7) | 2 |
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