Best Defensive defenders by Season Rating in Serie A 2026

The best defensive defenders in Serie A in 2026, ranked on Field Insider.

Best defensive goalkeepers in Serie A Best defensive midfielders in Serie A Best defensive attackers in Serie A Best defenders in Serie A Most in-form defenders in Serie A Top-scoring defenders in Serie A

At a glance

Arthur Chaves of Botafogo is the standout for raw talent across defenders in Serie A, with a Field Insider Rating of 74.2, and Nathan has been the form player this season, grading 62.3, and Luciano Juba leads the scoring with 8 goals.

The numbers a scout watches are the year-on-year jumps: Nathan has improved his Season rating most, up +51.9 on last season, while Khellven's scouting Rating has risen fastest, +27.7 over the same span. Those are the players whose trajectory is bending upward fastest.

By our market-value index, Marco Moreno of Bahia is the most valuable name in this group at 44.9.

Palmeiras · 24/25→25/26

Most improved

Nathan+51.9SsN

Vitoria · 24/25→25/26

50 players · ranked by best defendersCustomise →

	Player	Team
1	Nathan Full-back	Vitoria	24	62.3	62386.7%	645%
2	Raniele Centre-back	Corinthians	29	60.9	6181.8%	468.5%
3	Léo Pereira Centre-back	Flamengo	30	60.6	611%	461.7%
4	Marco Moreno Centre-back	Bahia	25	57.9	58143.3%	6816.5%
5	Léo Duarte Centre-back	Atletico-MG	30	55.7	5691.4%	3311.6%
6	Alex Sandro Centre-back	Flamengo	35	55.4	5579.9%	2321.5%
7	Gustavo Henrique Centre-back	Corinthians	33	55.1	5584.9%	2920%
8	Gabriel Paulista Centre-back	Corinthians	35	55	55423.8%	25134.3%
9	Murilo Centre-back	Palmeiras	29	54.7	5594%	5119.1%
10	G. Gómez Centre-back	Palmeiras	33	53.5	5411.7%	3220.4%
11	Juninho Capixaba Full-back	RB Bragantino	29	48.1	4865.9%	5016.8%
12	Ramon Full-back	Internacional	25	47.9	4862.4%	7013.5%
13	Léo Ortiz Centre-back	Flamengo	30	47.8	48±0%	434.6%
14	J. Piquerez Full-back	Palmeiras	28	47.2	473.5%	561.8%
15	Alix Centre-back	RB Bragantino	26	46.2	46308.8%	6218.2%
16	Gustavo Marques Centre-back	RB Bragantino	24	45.5	46285.6%	7016.4%
17	G. Maripán Centre-back	Internacional	32	42.9	43±0%	2138.3%
18	G. Varela Full-back	Flamengo	33	42.1	4252%	2829.8%
19	S. Ramos Centre-back	Bahia	24	41.9	422.6%	731.1%
20	Cacá Centre-back	Vitoria	27	41.7	42109.5%	5814.2%
21	Lucas Halter Centre-back	Vitoria	26	41.3	414.8%	651.7%
22	G. Escobar Centre-back	Santos	29	40.7	413.8%	454.2%
23	Cuiabano Full-back	Vasco DA Gama	23	40.1	4036.9%	666.7%
24	Bruno Gomes Full-back	Internacional	25	39.5	40170.5%	6818.7%
25	Igor Vinicius Full-back	Santos	29	38.9	3958.8%	447.8%
26	David Duarte Centre-back	Bahia	31	38.7	3917.3%	364.6%
27	Jonathan Centre-back	Cruzeiro	22	38.7	39125%	706.1%
28	Bruno Fuchs Centre-back	Palmeiras	27	38.3	38±0%	499.5%
29	A. Giay Centre-back	Palmeiras	22	37.4	374.6%	71±0%
30	Ruan Tressoldi Centre-back	Atletico-MG	27	37	3797.9%	5920.8%
31	Luan Cândido Full-back	Vitoria	25	36.8	37250.5%	6517.2%
32	Luciano Juba Centre-back	Bahia	27	36.4	3615.7%	663.6%
33	Igor Formiga Full-back	Mirassol	27	36.1	3667.1%	559.7%
34	A. Franco Centre-back	Atletico-MG	28	35.5	3627.2%	5811.9%
35	Sabino Centre-back	Sao Paulo	29	33.4	3316.5%	443.8%
36	Gustavo Martins Full-back	Gremio	24	33.3	33134.5%	675.4%
37	Khellven Full-back	Palmeiras	25	33	33112.9%	631.1%
38	A. Barboza Full-back	Palmeiras	31	32.7	3324.7%	2626.4%
39	Victor Gabriel Centre-back	Internacional	22	32.7	33147.7%	666.3%
40	F. Torres Centre-back	Internacional	29	32.3	32226.3%	4221.2%
41	Kaio Pantaleão Centre-back	Botafogo	30	32.2	3213.8%	3240.6%
42	Marlon Full-back	Gremio	29	30.5	31±0%	4013.8%
43	Arthur Centre-back	Palmeiras	21	30.2	30	70
44	N. Ferraresi Centre-back	Botafogo	27	30.1	3021.6%	561.8%
45	Vitor Hugo Centre-back	Atletico-MG	35	28.6	29±0%	1711.8%
46	G. Mercado Centre-back	Internacional	39	28	28191.7%	1451.1%
47	Roman Gomez Full-back	Bahia	22	27.6	28±0%	6634.6%
48	Jemmes Full-back	Fluminense	26	27.6	2840.4%	628.9%
49	J. Hurtado Centre-back	RB Bragantino	24	27.2	279.2%	65±0%
50	Pedro Henrique Centre-back	RB Bragantino	30	27.2	27240%	3723.1%