Arsenal
Alex Manninger played for two clubs in England, initially making his name at Arsenal.
The goalkeeper was signed by the Gunners from Grazer AK in 1997 as a highly-rated prospect. The Austrian also played 15 times in the Premier League during the 1999/2000 campaign.
Hope of truly breaking through at Arsenal didn’t last long, and he was loaned out to Fiorentina in 2001.
He was permanently sold to Espanyol in 2002 and ended up at Juventus several transfers later.
Manninger has now looked back on his time at Arsenal, expressing regret over his exit.
Desire for more Arsenal minutes
Now 48-years-of-age, Manninger has been speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport about a host of things regarding his career.
He seemed specifically emotional when asked about Arsenal and his move to London in 1997.
The Austrian explained: “It makes me emotional just thinking about it. I was 20, a kid. Wenger wanted to bring an international dimension to the club and focus on young players. I was one of them. Arsene even introduced a training camp, which was unusual for the Premier League at the time.”
Manninger revealed he felt ready to become Arsenal’s first-choice. He still regrets not fulfilling that dream during his time at the Emirates.
“I have to say that, despite my age, I felt comfortable in goal. Up front I had a giant like Tony Adams. He taught me so much. I only have one regret: leaving too soon. But you know, I wanted to play.”
Beyond Arsenal, he also opened up about his loan at Fiorentina, revealing why he shouldn’t have joined them.
“Yes, and it was the wrong decision. I found the situation absurd. It was 2001 and the club was on the verge of bankruptcy. For several months we didn’t receive our wages.
“The coach was [Roberto] Mancini, and every now and then he would say to us, ‘I wonder if we’ll train tomorrow.’ He was joking, but we all knew we could go bankrupt at any moment.”
Manninger still had quite a career
In total, the former goalkeeper played over 60 times for Arsenal during his Gunners spell.
He played 137 times in Serie A, with the majority of his appearances coming at Siena. Later in his career, he also had a stint at Liverpool, where he got to bid farewell to the game. Even at Juventus, he played over 40 times.
All in all, even if Manninger could’ve had a different career, he did enough to be remembered as a bit of a Serie A cult figure.
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