Salvatore Bocchetti

Bocchetti started his professional career at Ascoli.^[2] He made his Serie A debut against Palermo on 20 December 2006. He was sent on loan to Serie C1 for Lanciano, and Frosinone of Serie B in the second half of the 2006–07 season.^[2][3] In the 2008–09 season Bocchetti was signed by Genoa and soon became a regular starter in central defence, also functioning as a fullback on occasion.^[2]

In the 2010–11 season, he was signed by Rubin Kazan on a 3.5-year contract with a fee reported to be around €15 million for the transfer.^[4] On 2 October 2011, Bocchetti scored two goals in a league match against Tom Tomsk. Kazan won the game 2–0.^[5] In January 2013, he moved to Spartak Moscow, another Russian Premier League club.^[6] In August 2013, he received a knee surgery and missed the rest of the season.^[7] On 27 January 2015, Milan had signed him on loan with an option to make the move permanent at the end of the season.^[8] He was released from his Spartak contract by mutual consent on 6 July 2019.^[9]

On 25 July 2019, Bocchetti joined Italian Serie A club Hellas Verona on a two-year contract.^[10]

On 29 September 2020, Bocchetti joined Serie B club Pescara on loan until 30 June 2021.^[11]

In March 2008, Bocchetti made his debut with the Italy U-21 squad. He established himself in Pierluigi Casiraghi's Azzurrini squad, which won the 2008 Toulon Tournament, and retained his place in the starting lineup for the Summer Olympics, as Italy reached the quarter-finals.^[2][12] Together with Marco Andreolli, he was first-choice in central defence during the 2009 U-21 European Championship as Italy reached the semi-finals;^[13] he was later named to the team of the tournament.

On 22 March 2009, Bocchetti received his first call-up to the senior Italy squad for two World Cup qualifiers matches but remained an unused substitute.^[14] On 10 October 2009, he made his senior national team international debut against Ireland coming on as a second-half substitute in Croke Park. He was named in Marcello Lippi's 23-man squad for the 2010 World Cup.^[15] Bocchetti was also selected for Italy's preliminary squad for Euro 2012,^[16] but was not picked for the final squad.^[17]

Bocchetti has been described as a versatile, left-footed centre back, who is also capable of being deployed as a full back. He is known for his strength, pace, and anticipation, as well as for his reliable technical ability.^[18]

Following his retirement from active football, Bocchetti took on a career as a coach, rejoining Verona in July 2021 as a youth coach in charge of the Under-18 team.^[19] He left his role later in September 2021 to join Igor Tudor's first team coaching staff as an assistant,^[20] and also taking Tudor's place for a single Serie A league game against Cagliari on 30 April 2022 as Tudor himself was disqualified.^[21]

Following Tudor's departure and the appointment of Gabriele Cioffi as new head coach, Bocchetti was then handed over the duties of the Under-19 team for the 2022–23 season.^[22][23] In September 2022, he obtained a UEFA A license.^[24]

On 13 October 2022, he was promoted head coach of Verona, replacing Gabriele Cioffi.^[25] As Bocchetti had no UEFA Pro license at the time of his appointment, Verona had to ask the Italian Football Federation to hand him a temporary authorization, which was handed for a period of 30 days.^[26] He guided Verona formally as head coach for a total six games, all of them ending with defeat.^[27]

On 3 December 2022, after his temporary authorization to coach the Gialloblu expired,^[28] Verona announced the appointment of Marco Zaffaroni as new head coach, with Bocchetti as his assistant.^[29] He departed Verona by the end of the season, after the team escaped relegation by means of winning a playoff.

On 23 December 2024, Bocchetti signed a contract until 30 June 2027 as the new head coach of bottom-placed Serie A club Monza, replacing Alessandro Nesta.^[30] During his month and a half as head coach, Salvatore Bocchetti achieved a significant victory with Monza against Fiorentina — on January 13, 2025, he recorded his first win both with the Lombard club and as a professional manager, with a 2–1 result. Under his leadership, the team earned a total of 5 points. Shortly after, on February 10, 2025, the club decided to relieve him of his duties and reinstated the previous coach, Alessandro Nesta. Despite these changes, Monza was relegated to Serie B at the end of the season.

On 9 July 2025, Bocchetti was hired as the new head coach of Atalanta Under-23 in the Serie C league.^[31]

Bocchetti is married to Ekaterina Maltseva, whom he met while playing for Spartak in Russia; the couple has three children.^[32][33] He is fluent in Italian, English, Spanish and Russian.^[34]

As of match played 9 February 2025^[36]

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Hellas Verona (caretaker)		13 October 2022	2 December 2022	6	0	0	6	4	12	−8	000.00
Monza		23 December 2024	10 February 2025	7	1	0	6	6	16	−10	014.29
Total				13	1	0	12	10	28	−18	007.69