Salvatore Sirigu

Salvatore Sirigu (, ; born 12 January 1987) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Turkish Süper Lig club Fatih Karagümrük.

Sirigu began his career with Venezia, and then Palermo.

In 2002, he joined Palermo's youth system.

In the 2006–07 season made his debut as a starter in a Coppa Italia match against Sampdoria and a UEFA Cup match against Fenerbahçe.

Palermo loaned him to Serie C1 club Cremonese on 12 July 2007 to gain some first team experience.

He spent the 2008–09 season on loan to Serie B side Ancona, but only played 15 games with his club, as Ancona managers Francesco Monaco, and later Sandro Salvioni preferred Brazilian Da Costa over him.

Sirigu successively returned to Palermo as a second-choice keeper, behind new signing Rubinho, for the 2009–10 season.

Following a string of unimpressive performances by Rubinho, Palermo coach Walter Zenga, himself a former goalkeeper who was noted for his ability, elevated Sirigu to the starting role for the Week 6 game, an away match against Davide Ballardini's Lazio on 27 September 2009.

The game, which also represented Sirigu's official debut in the Italian Serie A, ended in a 1–1 draw, with the young goalkeeper being nominated Man of the Match due to his numerous saves throughout the match.

He was subsequently confirmed for the following game, where Sirigu managed to keep a clean sheet in a 2–0 win against Serie A giants Juventus.

Since then, Sirigu was regularly featured in the starting line-up and permanently confirmed as first-choice goalkeeper, leading the club to send Rubinho out on loan to Livorno later in January.

Due to his performance during his time at Palermo, Sirigu earned the nickname "Walterino", a reference to his coach Walter Zenga, who is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time.

On 21 October 2009, Palermo announced to have agreed a contract extension with him, the new contract would have expired in June 2014.

A former Italy youth international, Sirigu made his Italy senior debut in 2010, and was selected for UEFA Euro 2012 (finishing in second place), the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup (finishing in third place), the 2014 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2016, and UEFA Euro 2020, winning the latter tournament.

Born in Nuoro, Sardinia, Italy, Sirigu started his football career in Venezia's youth system playing as a midfielder.

He was known for his powerful back heels which he used to take penalty kicks.

He had been training as an attacker for a local amateur side, Puri e Forti, at 11 years old, when coaches concluded that his asthma condition would hinder him too much as an outfield player.

Instead, observing Sirigu's unusually large hands, they told him to have a go in goal.

In 2011, he moved to Paris Saint-Germain.

His final appearance for Palermo came in the 2011 Coppa Italia Final against Internazionale at Rome's Stadio Olimpico, a 3–1 loss.

On 28 July 2011, Sirigu signed a four-year contract with French club Paris Saint-Germain for a transfer fee of €3.895 million.

Although initially signed as reserve for Nicolas Douchez, Sirigu started all 38 Ligue 1 matches during his first season at the club as PSG finished as runners-up to Montpellier HSC.

He became the first foreign player to be named UNFP's goalkeeper of the season as PSG won the 2012–13 Ligue 1 championship.

On 27 January 2013, Sirigu broke Bernard Lama's clean-sheet record for a PSG goalkeeper in Ligue 1 (697 minutes).

Twice voted the Ligue 1 Goalkeeper of the Year, his honours at the club include four consecutive league titles and all four domestic competitions in both the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons.

Sirigu won the award for the second consecutive year in 2014, with PSG defending their league title and winning the Coupe de la Ligue.

On 2 August 2014, as PSG won the Trophée des Champions 2–0 against Guingamp at the Workers Stadium in Beijing, Sirigu saved a 32nd-minute penalty kick from Mustapha Yatabaré.

Sirigu remained PSG's first choice goalkeeper in the 2014–15 season for Ligue 1 and UEFA Champions League matches, as the capital club won a domestic treble of the league championship, Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue, as well as reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

After PSG completed the signing of German goalkeeper Kevin Trapp from Eintracht Frankfurt in July 2015, deputy sporting director Olivier Letang announced that the club "would not stand in [Sirigu's] way" if he wished to leave Paris.

However, the player's agent denied that the player would leave the club.

Sirigu remained PSG's first choice goalkeeper in the Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue, winning both titles, with Trapp taking his place as the preferred choice in Ligue 1 and UEFA Champions League matches.

After spending the 2016–17 season on loan to Sevilla and Osasuna, he was signed by Torino in 2017.

He played 152 games with Torino, then had brief spells at Genoa, Napoli and Fiorentina.

On 12 February 2016, he announced that he would have left PSG during the previous winter transfer window if "an important proposal had arrived", but ultimately remained with the club for the remainder of the season.

On 26 August 2016, Sirigu joined La Liga club Sevilla FC on a season-long loan.

He made his debut with the club in a 1–1 away draw against Eibar on 17 September.

A week later, away to Athletic Bilbao, he was sent off for elbowing Aritz Aduriz, leaving midfielder Vicente Iborra to unsuccessfully face the former's penalty in a 3–1 loss.

Having made only three appearances for the Andalusians, Sirigu moved to fellow league club, strugglers CA Osasuna on 31 January 2017 for the remainder of the season.

On 27 June 2017, Torino announced they had signed Sirigu on a free transfer.

He signed a contract extension on 10 September of the same year, lasting until 2018.