Going from unwanted to starting, Emerson Palmieri has had a rather eventful last five months. Before his arrival at Olympique de Marseille, the left-back had not made an appearance on a football field since May 11, 2025, during a match with West Ham against Manchester United (0-2 victory). Recruited for only 700,000 euros, the Italian international is Roberto De Zerbi's good pick.
It must be said that his track record illustrates his experience quite well. It's simple, Emerson has won every possible European competition. This includes the Europa League in 2019, the Champions League in 2021, the Euro in 2021, the Super Cup in 2021 and finally the Conference League in 2023. Enough to seduce the Marseille management and Roberto De Zerbi, in the process of building a squad capable of performing in C1.
However, his departure from the Hammers was far from obvious. On the contrary, the former Chelsea player was close to getting stuck in London and not living in the sky and white jersey again.
“I was worried”
In an interview given to CalciomercatoEmerson Palmieri opened up about his new adventure in Marseille. “
My debut against Lorient was supposed to be a match like any other, but from that day on, I knew I was arriving in a different environment. » However, the deal almost never closed. “ Two weeks before, I had already given my agreement to De Zerbi, but the agreement between the clubs was still missing. I was worried because I was afraid they wouldn't be able to agree, but the coach and Benatia wanted me so much that they waited until the last moment. »
The former Roma full-back admits, he had a “fear” to see the agreement fail. “ JI'm a man of my word, but it wasn't just me who decided. » This is due to intransigence on the part of his former club, of which he has bad memories. “ Before the transfer, I spent 50 days training alone. West Ham didn't want to lower their demands, but I remained calm because I knew Marseille really wanted me. » In the end, this patience paid off for Emerson Palmieri, who became an indisputable player under his new coach after having participated in all the matches since his arrival.
