Gigio Donnarumma, Guglielmo Vicario and the rest: Italian goalkeepers in the Premier League

Gigio Donnarumma, after the turbulent closure with Paris Saint-Germain and the fear of living away from the field the season leading up to the 2026 World Cup, is starting again with Manchester City and the Premier League. Interestingly, he will join in the English league his deputy in the national team, Guglielmo Vicario. And the two seem destined to exorcise an old spell: that of the difficulties often faced by homegrown goalkeepers in England.

In fact, if Carlo Cudicini (strongly wanted by Gianluca Vialli in his Chelsea team as early as 1999 and starring for fourteen seasons in England) became a symbol of the Premier League, to many other Italian number 1s the move across the Channel brought decidedly less luck. This is probably not the case for Marco Ambrosio, who was Cudicini’s deputy in 2003 and did not disfigure, but negative examples in this regard are not lacking.

The most famous probably remains that of Massimo Taibi, who after a promising debut at Manchester United in 1999 ran into a black day that cost him his job after just four appearances with the Red Devils. Back in London, mm Arsenal side, it went paradoxically even worse for Emiliano Viviano and Daniele Padelli: just one league appearance for both. The luckiest Italian in a Gunners shirt remains Vito Mannone, called upon 15 times by Arsene Wenger between 2009 and 2013.

In contrast, Matteo Sereni was a starter for Ipswich Town in 2001, but for him and his team came relegation to the Championship. Finally, the more recent cases: the move of Marco Amelia to José Mourinho’s Chelsea in 2015 and those of Pierluigi Gollini to first Aston Villa and then Tottenham, affecting only Birmingham. Then Vicario and, as of September 1, 2025, Gigio Donnarumma.