Giovanni Di Lorenzo

Napoli's captain came to the role by a route unusual for a top-flight defender: Giovanni Di Lorenzo did not break through as a teenager but spent years working up from Serie B and Lega Pro before Serie A noticed him. He turned professional with Reggina, made his Serie B debut with the club in 2011 and, after a loan spell at Cuneo, returned to see Reggina relegated into Lega Pro. A free transfer took him to Matera, then a move to Empoli in 2017 finally put him in front of a wider audience, and his form there helped the club win promotion to Serie A. Napoli signed him in the summer of 2019.

He was handed the captain's armband in 2022 after Lorenzo Insigne's departure, and wore it through the following season as Napoli won the Serie A title, the club's first since 1989-90.

Internationally, Di Lorenzo made his debut for Italy in October 2019 in a Euro 2020 qualifier against Liechtenstein, and went on to start every one of Italy's matches at the finals themselves, including the final against England, which Italy won. He was not part of the squad that missed out on the 2022 World Cup after the playoff defeat to North Macedonia, but he returned for Euro 2024, starting against both Albania and Spain. In August 2023, Luciano Spalletti named him Italy's captain in succession to Leonardo Bonucci.