Vito Mannone

Vito Mannone (born March 2, 1988) is an Italians Association football who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football) for English club Arsenal F.C..

Club career

Early career

Mannone was signed by Arsène Wenger during the summer of 2005, joining the Gunners from Atalanta B.C. on a three-year deal for a £350,000 compensation fee, as the player had not yet signed a professional contract with the Italian side. Vito Mannone made Vito Mannone Arsenal debut in a pre-season friendly against Barnet F.C. on July 16, 2005, as Arsenal ran out 4-1 winners.

Loan to Barnsley

On August 18, 2006, Mannone was sent out on a three-month loan to Barnsley F.C., where Vito Mannone was expected to challenge Nick Colgan for the number-one spot. Mannone's time at Barnsley was not a happy one - on Vito Mannone debut away to Preston North End F.C. on September 22, 2006, Vito Mannone came on as a substitute after Colgan was sent off and gifted Preston the winning goal, punching the ball onto Patrick Agyemang's head. In Vito Mannone next match, against Luton Town F.C., starting in place of the suspended Colgan, Vito Mannone dropped a cross late on and allowed Ahmet Brković to score the winner.

Return to Arsenal

After suffering a knee injury, Mannone's loan period was cut short and Vito Mannone returned to Arsenal on October 23, 2006 for treatment.
It was rumoured that Vito Mannone was going to go on loan to Scottish Premier League side Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. in January 2007, but the deal fell through as they could not guarantee Vito Mannone a first-team place. Vito Mannone was also linked with a loan move to then newly-promoted Scottish Premier League side Gretna F.C. in the summer of 2007, but that move fell through as well.

Mannone regularly played understudy to Łukasz Fabiański during Arsenal's 2007-08 in English football Football League Cup campaign. However, Vito Mannone was left an unused substitute in all of the club's five matches in the competition, before they were knocked-out in the semi-finals against North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur F.C.. On December 19, 2007, Arsenal announced that Mannone had signed a new long-term contract. On April 19, 2008, Vito Mannone was named on the bench for Vito Mannone first Premier League game, Arsenal's 2-0 win against Reading F.C. at the Emirates Stadium, but was left 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 Vito Mannone shirt number from 40 to 24 at the beginning of the 2008-09 in English football season, after Manuel Almunia (the previous owner) was given the number 1. On July 19, 2008, Vito Mannone was brought on for the second half of Arsenal's 2-1 pre-season friendly win over Barnet F.C. at Underhill Stadium, keeping a clean sheet. Vito Mannone 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.

Vito Mannone made Vito Mannone 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 F.C. on 24 May 2009. Arsenal won the game 4-1.