Vito Mannone

Vito Mannone (born 2 March 1988) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Danish club Esbjerg fB on loan from Reading. He previously played for Arsenal and Sunderland, and has represented Italy at youth level.

Born in Desio, Lombardy, Mannone was signed by Arsène Wenger during the summer of 2005, joining Arsenal from Atalanta on a three-year deal for a £350,000 compensation fee. He made his Arsenal debut in a pre-season friendly against Barnet on 16 July 2005, as Arsenal ran out 4–1 winners.

Arsenal

Early career

On 18 August 2006, Mannone was sent out on a three-month loan to Championship club Barnsley, where he was expected to challenge Nick Colgan for the number-one spot. He made his debut in the League Cup against Blackpool on 22 August 2006. After a 2–2 draw, the game went to a penalty shootout in which Mannone saved a penalty from Keigan Parker to help his team through to the next round. However Mannone's time at Barnsley was ultimately not a happy one. Making his league debut in an away game to Preston North End on 22 September, he came on as a substitute after Colgan was sent off. He punched a cross onto Patrick Agyemang's head and the ball bounced in for the winning goal to Preston. In his next match, starting in place of the suspended Colgan, against Luton Town, he dropped a cross late on and Ahmet Brković scored the winner.

After suffering a knee injury, Mannone's loan period was cut short and he returned to Arsenal on 23 October 2006 for treatment.

He was linked with a loan move to then newly promoted Scottish Premier League side Gretna in the summer of 2007, but that move fell through.

Mannone was understudy to Łukasz Fabiański during Arsenal's 2007–08 League Cup campaign. However, he was an unused substitute in all of the club's five matches in the competition, before they were knocked-out in the semi-finals by North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur. On 19 December 2007, Arsenal announced that Mannone had signed a new long-term contract. On 19 April 2008, he was named on the bench for a Premier League game for the first time, in Arsenal's 2–0 win against Reading at the Emirates Stadium. But he was an unused substitute as Jens Lehmann played the entire match.

2008–2012

Following the departure of Jens Lehmann in the summer of 2008, Mannone became Arsenal's third-choice goalkeeper, behind Manuel Almunia and Łukasz Fabiański. Mannone changed his shirt number from 40 to 24 at the beginning of the 2008–09 season, after Manuel Almunia (the previous owner) was given the number 1. On 19 July 2008, he was brought on for the second half of Arsenal's 2–1 pre-season friendly win over Barnet at Underhill, keeping a clean sheet. He made a total of four pre-season appearances for Arsenal's first team in the summer of 2008, coming on as a half-time substitute in all of them.

He finally made his competitive debut for Arsenal's first team in their final match of the 2008–09 season, a Premier League fixture at home to Stoke City on 24 May 2009. Arsenal won the game 4–1.

With first choice goalkeeper Manuel Almunia and back-up Łukasz Fabiański out injured, Mannone made his first UEFA Champions League start against Standard Liege, in Arsenal's first group stage match on 16 September 2009. Mannone's night got off to a poor start, conceding twice within the first five minutes: first from a shot from outside of the box by Eliaquim Mangala which beat Mannone at the near post and then a penalty converted by Milan Jovanovic after he was brought down by William Gallas. However, Arsenal recovered to win the match 3–2, after goals from Nicklas Bendtner, Thomas Vermaelen and Eduardo.

Mannone made his second Premier League appearance against Wigan Athletic on 19 September 2009. He kept a clean sheet in a 4–0 victory for Arsenal. Mannone also kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 win against Fulham at Craven Cottage on 26 September 2009, in which he pulled off many good saves and almost single-handedly kept Arsenal in the game. Mannone said the game was the highlight of his career. He again kept a clean sheet in the 2–0 victory over Olympiacos in the UEFA Champions League on 29 September 2009. On 17 October 2009, Mannone was selected as the starting keeper over the previous mainstay, Almunia, who had been overlooked after missing through illness; this was seen as a vote of confidence for Mannone after people had previously questioned his and Almunia's future in the first team.

On 25 January 2010, Mannone signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal, setting his sight to become Arsenal's first choice goalkeeper.

On 18 October 2010, Mannone joined Championship side Hull City on loan until 3 January 2011. On 27 October 2010, Mannone played his first game with Hull City against Scunthorpe United in a reserve match in which Hull won 3–0. Mannone was reported to have made a few great saves. He made his first team debut on 13 November 2010 against Preston North End, where he kept a clean sheet in a 2–0 victory. He also kept another clean sheet against Ipswich Town on his home debut in which the game ended in a 1–0 victory for Hull. He had a good spell with Hull, keeping 4 clean sheets in 7 games and also saved a penalty against Reading. On 31 December 2010, he returned to Arsenal after a thigh injury, but rejoined Hull on loan until the end of the season. He returned from injury on 5 March 2011, in a 1–0 win over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.

Mannone returned to Arsenal as third choice behind the two Polish keepers, Wojciech Szczęsny and Łukasz Fabiański. His first competitive appearance of the 2011–12 season came on 6 December 2011 against Olympiakos in the UEFA Champions League, replacing the injured Lukasz Fabiański. Mannone made a blunder that allowed David Fuster to score Olympiakos' second goal of the night and Arsenal eventually lost the game 3–1.

Later career

Mannone returned to Hull City on 4 January 2012, signing on loan until the end of the season. His first game back at the KC Stadium was an FA Cup Third round match against Ipswich Town, with Hull City winning 3–1. His first league game was a 1–0 away win over Reading. He then played in the FA Cup Fourth round match against Crawley which ended in a surprise 0–1 defeat for Hull, during which he was announced Man of the Match. He then kept a clean sheet over Doncaster in a goalless draw at the KC Stadium on 31 January.

Due to injuries to both Wojciech Szczęsny and Łukasz Fabiański, Mannone was the first choice goalkeeper, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 draw against Stoke City, and keeping another clean sheet a week later against Liverpool at Anfield. Mannone also played in a 1–1 draw against Manchester City on 23 September. Due to his performances this season Mannone stated he was ready to challenge Szczęsny for the number one spot. He effectively succeeded Fabiański for the number two spot.

In March, with Szczęsny rested for a few matches and Mannone injured, Fabiański filled in. Fabiański's performances got him promoted to reserve, pushing Mannone down to third choice.

Sunderland

2013–2015

On 3 July 2013, Mannone signed a two-year contract with Sunderland, for an undisclosed fee. Mannone started both of Sunderland's matches in the Premier League Asia Trophy in pre-season, but Keiren Westwood was preferred to him for the opening league game of the season against Fulham. After featuring in the League Cup, Mannone made his league debut for the Black Cats in a 1–0 loss at Hull, replacing the injured Westwood. Mannone retained his place for a 2–1 cup win over Southampton, and made his first league start in a 1–0 home win over Manchester City.

In the 2nd leg of the semi-final tie against Manchester United in the Capital One cup, Mannone saved two penalties in the penalty shoot out at the end of the extra time that helped Sunderland qualify for the Final at Wembley against Manchester City.

On 22 April 2014, Mannone was named the Sunderland Supporters Player of the Year, at a special presentation night at the Stadium of Light. On 29 May 2014, he was named the club's official Player of the Year.

Mannone began the 2014–15 season as first choice, but after a series of poor performances culminating in an 8–0 loss at Southampton and a 2–0 home defeat at Arsenal the following week he was dropped in favour of Costel Pantilimon. Pantilimon remained first choice for the rest of the season, with Mannone only featuring in cup games and in a 3–1 defeat at Chelsea on the final day.

2015–2017

On 26 December 2015, Mannone started ahead of Pantilimon in a 4–1 defeat at Manchester City. He retained his place in the following match, a 0–1 home defeat to Liverpool, and was praised by manager Sam Allardyce after the game. After Pantilimon was transferred to Watford in January 2016, Mannone remained first choice over Jordan Pickford for the rest of the season, as Sunderland fought an ultimately successful battle against relegation, with their safety eventually being confirmed with a 3–0 home victory over Everton on 11 May 2016.

On 4 July 2016, Mannone signed a new two-year contract with Sunderland.

Reading

On 19 July 2017, Mannone moved to Reading for an undisclosed fee of around £2 million. signing a three-year contract.

On 10 February 2019, Mannone joined MLS side Minnesota United FC on a one-year loan. On 24 October 2019, Mannone was named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.

On 31 January 2020, Mannone was loaned out to Danish Superliga club Esbjerg fB for the rest of the season.

On 13 November 2009, Mannone made his debut with the Italy U-21 team in a match against Hungary. He played seven matches in 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification.

Club

As of match played 1 September 2018

Club

Sunderland

• Football League Cup: Runner-up 2013–14

Individual

• MLS Goalkeeper of the Year: 2019
• MLS Best XI: 2019
• Sunderland Supporters' Player of the Year: 2013–14
• Sunderland Official Player of the Year: 2013–14

On 14 June 2015, Mannone married his wife Fiorella.