Sunderland, having already sold number one Jordan Pickford to Everton, have allowed former Arsenal goalkeeper Vito Mannone to leave the Stadium of Light. He joined Reading on Wednesday.
Sunderland, having already sold number one Jordan Pickford to Everton, have allowed former Arsenal goalkeeper Vito Mannone to leave the Stadium of Light.
Ok, Mannone wouldn’t have filled the Pickford void as such, but he would have helped compensate the loss of the England keeper.
The Italian joined Championship rivals Reading on Wednesday afternoon.
A statement on the Official Website read: ‘Goalkeeper Vito Mannone has joined Sky Bet Championship side Reading. The 29-year-old Italian has signed an three-year contract with the Royals.’
Mannone’s fee wasn’t revealed but this has been reported to be £2m, according to the BBC.
During his four years at the Stadium of light, joining Sunderland from Arsenal in 2013, having previously spent time on loan at Hull, Mannone made 80 appearances for the Black Cats in total.
The former Italian U21 international keeper was part of the Sunderland side beaten by Manchester City in the 2014 League Cup final.
Mannone joining Reading has seen them boost their options, losing the experienced Ali Al-Habsi earlier this week, whilst further weakening the keepers Simon Grayson can call upon so a new shot-stopper, probably in his mind anyway, will now be targeted.
