Exequiel Alejandro Palacios was born on 5 October 1998 in Famaillá, Tucumán, Argentina, and developed through River Plate's youth academy. He made his senior River Plate debut in 2015 and contributed to their 2018 Copa Libertadores triumph. After 48 league appearances and four goals for River Plate, Bayer Leverkusen signed him on 1 January 2020 on a five-and-a-half-year contract.
At Leverkusen he has logged more than 120 appearances and 11 goals, with the historic 2023-24 unbeaten Bundesliga title win as his career highlight. He was named to the kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season for 2023-24 and remains a central piece of the midfield.
For Argentina he made his senior debut in 2018 and has earned around 40 caps. He was instrumental in Argentina's recent triumphs: 2022 World Cup winner, 2021 and 2024 Copa América champion, and 2022 Finalissima winner over Italy. He played in the group stage, knockouts and semi-finals at the 2022 World Cup.
A 1.77 m two-footed central midfielder, Palacios combines technique, vision, agility and tactical intelligence — a classic Argentine "doble cinco" partner with Rodrigo De Paul and Enzo Fernández who has been a quietly essential figure in Argentina's recent dominant period.