Mannone completes Sunderland move

Vito Mannone’s eight-year career at Arsenal is over after the Italian completed a permanent move to Sunderland for a fee in the region of £1.5 million.

The deal, which is a two-year contract, sees the 25-year-old replace Belgian stopper Simon Mignolet who recently moved to Liverpool and offers Mannone a serious shot at regular Premier League football.

The 25-year old Italian will team up with Paolo Di Canio’s side after spending eight years with the Gunners, during which time he made 23 appearances for the Club.

Arsenal official website stated :

Arsenal Football Club can confirm that goalkeeper Vito Mannone has joined Sunderland for an undisclosed fee.

Mannone joined Arsenal from Atalanta in 2005 and it was not long before he enjoyed his first taste of action in the Championship on loan with Barnsley during the 2006/07 season.

Over the next two seasons, the goalkeeper became a regular around the Gunners’ first-team squad, eventually making his debut against Stoke City in the Premier League in May 2009. After a series of impressive performances, he spent two further successful loan stints with Hull City to gain valuable first team experience, playing 23 times for the Tigers during 2011/12 – a spell which was notable for an outstanding run of nine clean sheets in 11 league matches, which saw the Yorkshire side finish narrowly outside the play-off places.

Last season, Mannone was a mainstay in the Arsenal first-team squad for much of the campaign, stepping in for Wojciech Szczesny and Lukasz Fabianski and making nine Premier League appearances plus a further four in the UEFA Champions League.

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Arsenal have up and coming ‘keeper Damian Martinez developing and he could potentially take over Mannone’s spot and with Julio Cesar also close to an Arsenal move it was time for the Italian to move on, he has the potential to be a decent shot stopper but requires match experience and isn’t quite the calibre we need.

We wish him well for his future.