Vito Mannone

Vito Mannone (born 2 March 1988) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Ligue 1 club Lille.

Born in Desio, Mannone was a member of Atalanta's academy before moving to England in 2005, joining Arsenal.

Born in Desio, Lombardy, from Sicilian parents, 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.

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.

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 made his Arsenal debut in 2009 and made eight appearances in 2009–10 before spending two loan spells with Hull City.

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.

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 before leaving permanently in 2020.

Mannone moved to France, playing for Monaco and Lorient.

He joined Lille in 2023.

He has also represented Italy at U21 level.