Product Code Database
Vito Mannone (born 2 March 1988) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper.
Born in Desio, Mannone was a member of Atalanta's academy before moving to England in 2005, joining Arsenal. He made his Arsenal debut in 2009 and made eight appearances in 2009–10 before spending two loan spells with Hull City. He left Arsenal in 2013 for Sunderland. In his first season, he won the club's Player of the Year award as Sunderland reached the League Cup final. He spent four seasons with Sunderland before moving to Reading in 2017. Mannone moved on loan to Minnesota United and Esbjerg fB before leaving permanently in 2020. Mannone moved to France, playing for Monaco and FC Lorient. He joined Lille OSC in 2023.
He has also represented Italy at U21 level.
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.
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 Liège, 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 Jovanović 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.
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.
In the second leg of the semi-final tie against Manchester United in the League 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 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.
On 4 July 2016, Mannone signed a new two-year contract with Sunderland.
On 10 February 2019, Mannone joined Major League Soccer side Minnesota United 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. EfB henter Vito Mannone, efb.dk, 31 January 2020
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| + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition | |||
| Arsenal | 2006–07 | Premier League | 0 |
| 2007–08 | Premier League | 0 | |
| 2008–09 | Premier League | 0 | |
| 2009–10 | Premier League | 0 | |
| 2010–11 | Premier League | 0 | |
| 2011–12 | Premier League | 0 | |
| 2012–13 | Premier League | 0 | |
| Barnsley (loan) | 2006–07 | EFL Championship | 0 |
| Hull City (loan) | 2010–11 | Championship | 0 |
| Hull City (loan) | 2011–12 | Championship | 0 |
| Sunderland | 2013–14 | Premier League | 0 |
| 2014–15 | Premier League | 0 | |
| 2015–16 | Premier League | 0 | |
| 2016–17 | Premier League | 0 | |
| Reading | 2017–18 | Championship | 0 |
| 2018–19 | Championship | 0 | |
| 2019–20 | Championship | 0 | |
| Minnesota United (loan) | 2019 | Major League Soccer | 0 |
| Esbjerg fB (loan) | 2019–20 | Danish Superliga | 0 |
| Monaco | 2020–21 | Ligue 1 | 0 |
| 2021–22 | Ligue 1 | 0 | |
| FC Lorient | 2022–23 | Ligue 1 | 0 |
| Lille OSC | 2023–24 | Ligue 1 | 0 |
| 2024–25 | Ligue 1 | 0 | |
Individual
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