Marco Sportiello

Marco Sportiello

Sportiello training with Atalanta in 2014
Personal information
Full name	Marco Sportiello
Date of birth	(1992-05-10) 10 May 1992 (age 32)
Place of birth	Desio, Italy
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) [1]
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	AC Milan
Number	57
Youth career
1998–1999	Zibido San Giacomo
1999–2010	Atalanta
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2011	Seregno	28	(0)
2011–2012	Poggibonsi	34	(0)
2012–2013	Carpi	30	(0)
2013–2023	Atalanta	125	(0)
2017–2018	→ Fiorentina (loan)	39	(0)
2018–2019	→ Frosinone (loan)	35	(0)
2023–	AC Milan	7	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:25, 19 May 2024 (UTC)

Marco Sportiello (born 10 May 1992) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Serie A club AC Milan. He is considered a penalty saving specialist. ^[2]

Club career

Early career

Born in Desio, Sportiello finished his graduation with Atalanta's youth system, and subsequently moved to Seregno in a co-ownership deal. ^[3] A season later, Atalanta bought the remaining half of his rights back for free.

On 20 June 2011, Sportiello joined Poggibonsi, again in a co-ownership. ^[4] A year later his rights were fully assigned to La Dea. ^[5] On 14 July 2012, he moved to Carpi on a season-long loan deal. ^[6] After being a regular starter during the promotion campaign to Serie B, Sportiello returned to Atalanta, being third-choice (behind Andrea Consigli and Giorgio Frezzolini).

Atalanta

On 4 December 2013, Sportiello made his Atalanta debut, starting in a 2–0 home win over Sassuolo, for the season's Coppa Italia; ^[7] his Serie A debut came on 12 January of the following year, starting in a 2–1 home success over Catania. ^[8]

After Consigli's departure to Sassuolo, Sportiello was made starter for the 2014–15 campaign, overtaking veterans Frezzolini and new signing Vlada Avramov.

Loan to Fiorentina

On 13 January 2017, Fiorentina confirmed the signing of Sportiello from league rivals Atalanta on an 18-month loan (with an option to purchase). ^[9] On 3 March 2018, the day before Fiorentina captain Davide Astori died in his sleep, Sportiello was the last person to see him alive. ^[10]

Loan to Frosinone

On 6 July 2018, Sportiello signed with Frosinone on loan from Atalanta until 30 June 2019. ^[11]

2020–2023: Return to Atalanta and final season

At the end of the loan spell he returned to Atalanta. On 11 March 2020, he made his debut with the club in the Champions League, in the round of 16 against Valencia. ^[12]

AC Milan

After not renewing his contract with Atalanta, Sportiello joined AC Milan as a free agent on a four-year deal on 28 June 2023. ^[13] By joining Milan, Sportiello also reunited with the head coach Stefano Pioli, who was in charge of Fiorentina during the 2017–18 season, in which Sportiello was the first choice. On 19 September 2023, Sportiello stepped in for an injured Mike Maignan and made his official AC Milan debut in a Champions League group stage match against Newcastle United, which concluded in a 0–0 draw. ^{[14] [15]}

In October 2023, after Mike Maignan had been suspended for the home game against Juventus, Sportiello was supposed to start the game yet sustained an injury in training, which sidelined him for the rest of the 2023 calendar year. ^[16]

Sportiello returned on the bench by 20 January 2024, the away Serie A game against Udinese, and made six more appearances throughout the rest of the season as Mike Maignan continued to struggle with injuries in April and May of the year. He finished the season with 9 appearances, 3 clean sheets, and 12 goals conceded. ^[17]

International career

He has been called up for the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship as a reserve goalkeeper, without having made his official debut with the Italy U21 side. He has been called up for the Italy training camp on 16 May 2016.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 18 May 2024 ^[18]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Poggibonsi	2011–12	Lega Pro Seconda Divisione	34	0	–		–		–		34	0
Carpi	2012–13	Lega Pro Prima Divisione	30	0	3	0	–		4	0	37	0
Atalanta	2013–14	Serie A	3	0	1	0	–		–		4	0
	2014–15		37	0	0	0	–		–		37	0
	2015–16		36	0	1	0	–		–		37	0
	2016–17		8	0	2	0	–		–		10	0
	2019–20		6	0	0	0	2 [lower-alpha 1]	0	–		8	0
	2020–21		15	0	1	0	5 [lower-alpha 1]	0	–		21	0
	2021–22		5	0	0	0	0	0	–		5	0
	2022–23		15	0	0	0	–		–		15	0
	Total		125	0	5	0	7	0	–		137	0
Fiorentina (loan)	2016–17	Serie A	2	0	0	0	–		–		2	0
	2017–18		37	0	0	0	–		–		37	0
	Total		39	0	0	0	–		–		39	0
Frosinone (loan)	2018–19	Serie A	35	0	1	0	–		–		36	0
AC Milan	2023–24	Serie A	7	0	0	0	2 [lower-alpha 2]	0	–		9	0
Career total			270	0	9	0	9	0	4	0	292	0

1. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
2. One appearance in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Europa League

References

1. "Marco Sportiello". Atalanta B.C. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021.
2. "Come gioca e quanto vale Marco Sportiello". Calcio e Finanza (in Italian). 12 May 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
3. Ufficiale: Sportiello va al Seregno (Official: Sportiello goes to Seregno); Tutto Atalanta, 21 August 2010 (in Italian)
4. Marco Sportiello è del Poggibonsi (Marco Sportiello is a Poggibonsi player) Archived 15 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine ; Poggibonsi's official website, 20 June 2011 (in Italian)
5. "Archived copy" (PDF) (in Italian). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 June 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
6. Calciomercato: le ultime operazioni (Transfer market: the last moves) Archived 15 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine ; Carpi's official website, 14 July 2012 (in Italian)
7. Coppa: Atalanta eliminate Sassuolo; Football Italia, 4 December 2013
8. Atalanta 2–1 Catania; Football Italia, 12 January 2014
9. "ViolaChannel - Sportiello signs for Fiorentina". en.violachannel.tv. ACF Fiorentina. 13 January 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
10. Pasqualetto, Andrea. "Morto Davide Astori, capitano della Fiorentina. Sportiello: "Sabato sera giocavamo insieme alla playstation"". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 9 November 2018.
11. "Sportiello on loan to Frosinone". goal.com. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
12. "Sportiello: esordio in Champions League". atalanta.it (in Italian). 11 March 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
13. "Marco Sportiello, new signing of the AC Milan transfer market: the official statement". AC Milan. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
14. "Milan-Newcastle: UEFA Champions League 2023/24 Group stage". UEFA. 19 September 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
15. "AC Milan 0-0 Newcastle - Match Report & Highlights". Sky Sports. 19 September 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
16. https://sempremilan.com/sportiello-sustains-calf-problem-mirante-juventus
17. https://sempremilan.com/sky-sportiello-start-maignan-miss-sassuolo
18. "M. Sportiello". Soccerway.

External links

• Profile at the AC Milan website
• Marco Sportiello – UEFA competition record ( archive )