5 August 2008

Manninger joins Juventus

As of today, Juventus have added another keeper to their squad: Alexander Manninger. The Austrian was purchased in full from Udinese and has signed a four-year contract.
Manninger immediately reached London this morning (thanks to Udinese granting him permission to do so before the contract was finalized), where he trained with his new team mates and worked with goalkeeping coach Giorgio Pellizzaro. His first words as a Juventus player were full of enthusiasm: «I'm very happy to be at Juve and this is not just something hackneyed to say, I really mean it. Football matters here. I have played a lot in smaller teams, but years ago I played for Arsenal and I’ve always wanted to play for a big team again».

The fact he'll have a legend in front of him such as Gigi Buffon doesn't bother him, in fact it motivates him: «We all know how good Gigi is and his role inside this team. It's true only one keeper can play at a time, but it's also true that in today's football a squad needs at least twenty-five players and one keeper isn't enough, indeed there are 3 of us at Juve. I'm ready to lend a hand if needed».

Manninger is an experienced goalkeeper (born in 1977), who has played all around Europe. He started out in his own country, Austria: BNZ Salzburg, the team he grew up in, then Vorwarts Steyr, Austria Salzburg and Grazer, where he blossomed. Arsenal were keeping an eye on him and were impressed enough to sign him up thanks also to his performances in the UEFA Cup that year. He stayed four seasons in London (from 1997 to 2001), where he was David Seaman's reserve, but he managed to make around forty appearances.

In 2001 he began his Italian period, when he was signed up by Fiorentina. After a short spell at Espanyol Barcelona, he came back to Italy again, first at Bologna and then Torino.

In 2004 he joined the club where he would leave his mark the most: Siena. Apart from a short spell back at Austria Salzburg (managed by Giovanni Trapattoni at the time), he stayed at Siena until this summer, when he was purchased by Udinese. Manninger has been in the Austrian national team for several years. He was also in the squad at the recent European Championships.