Giovanni Di Lorenzo was born on 4 August 1993 in Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, Tuscany. He started his career at Reggina in 2011 and progressed through the Italian lower divisions with Cuneo (loan), Matera and Empoli, helping Empoli win promotion to Serie A in 2017-18.
In June 2019 Napoli signed him for around €8 million, and he has gone on to make more than 300 appearances for the club. After the departures of Lorenzo Insigne and Kalidou Koulibaly in 2022 he was named captain, and has lifted two Serie A trophies (2022-23, 2024-25), the 2019-20 Coppa Italia and the 2025-26 Supercoppa Italiana, while being named to the Serie A Team of the Year multiple times.
For Italy he has earned more than 50 caps since 2019 and was a key figure in the squad that won Euro 2020, playing the entire final against England, which Italy won on penalties.
Originally a forward as a youngster — he was nicknamed "Batigol" — Di Lorenzo has matured into a defensively reliable, tactically intelligent right-back who can also play as a centre-back, wing-back or even winger. His stamina, two-footedness and aerial ability have made him one of Serie A's most consistent right-backs of the past decade.