Coppa Italia

Strakosha, Donnarumma, & Meret Aren't The Only Young Serie A Star Keepers

Strakosha, Donnarumma, & Meret Aren't The Only Young Serie A Star Keepers

FloFC takes a look at nine goalkeepers under the age of 25 who have given opposing attackers fits throughout the 2018-19 Serie A season.

May 4, 2019 by Wesley Davidson
Strakosha, Donnarumma, & Meret Aren't The Only Young Serie A Star Keepers

Italian football has long been synonymous with tactical ingenuity, defense, and quality goalkeeping. This season has been no exception between the sticks.

While established figures such as Juve’s Wojciech Szczęsny, Inter’s Samir Handanovic, and Torino’s Salvatore Sirigu have performed admirably for some of the better sides in the league, there’s been a host of young faces who have shined and are garnering deserved interest domestically and from abroad. FloFC takes a look at nine shot stoppers under the age of 25 who have given opposing attackers fits throughout the 2018-19 season.

Emil Audero | Sampdoria

Indonesian-born Emil Audero, 22,  is a talent to keep an eye on in the coming years. Born to an Indonesian father and Italian mother, Audero’s family picked up and moved to his mother’s hometown of Cumiana, Italy, when he was still an infant. He has represented the Italian national team at every level from U15 through U21, but has yet to appear for the senior side.

Along with Fabio Quagliarella’s heroics up top, Audero has helped keep Sampdoria in the fight for a Europa League spot for much of the season. The 22-year-old joined Samp on loan from Juventus last summer before making it permanent in January and has appeared in all 34 matches this season. Stellar play through the fall put him in the club’s history books. Only two keepers in Italy — Sirigu and Handanovic — have kept more clean sheets than Audero (11).



Alex Meret | Napoli

The Udine native’s Napoli tenure got off to the worst possible start. After joining from Udinese on loan over the summer, Meret, 22,  suffered a fractured arm in preseason training and had to watch while Arsenal loanee David Ospina took over in goal.

Since making his debut against Frosinone in December, Meret’s heralded technical ability and reaction saves have been on display while collecting five clean sheets in 12 Serie A appearances for the Partenopei. Napoli locked up a permanent deal in February to keep him at the San Paolo into the future, but there looks to be plenty of competition on tap as Ospina earned the bulk of playing time in April and is one game away from triggering the clause to make his move permanent. Meret did everything in his power to keep his side in the Europa League.



Alban Lafont | Fiorentina

The Frenchman Lafont, 20, is one of the most exciting young talents in goal in Italy and all of Europe for that matter. At 16 years of age he became the youngest keeper to play in Ligue 1 while suiting up for Toulouse, and he went on to make 98 appearances before signing for Fiorentina in July 2018. His side’s defense has been pretty porous throughout the campaign with 42 goals conceded, but eight clean sheets and a collection of impressive saves is a commendable return for the 20-year-old.

His worst moment of the season could not have come at a worse time for La Viola. His howler resulted in the go-ahead goal in a 2-1 loss to Atalanta in the Coppa Italia semifinals. How he responds to that moment in the coming weeks will tell a lot about his mental fortitude. The Gunners of London are one major club keeping an eye on the young keeper, and it’s hard to argue with what he’s displayed so far in his young career.



Alessio Cragno | Cagliari

Alessio Cragno, 24, began his professional career at Brescia in 2012 before joining Cagliari two years later. He began attracting attention when he helped Benevento secure their first promotion to Serie A while playing on loan, and he subsequently became Cagliari’s first choice.

The one knock on Cragno is his height (6-feet), but his promoters argue that his reflexes and positional awareness more than make up for it. Roma have come knocking in recent weeks and Cragno is reportedly their first choice to replace Robin Olsen. The young Italian did nothing to deter the Giallorossi’s interest with a standout effort at the Stadio Olimpico last weekend in a 3-0 loss that could have been much worse if not for several miraculous saves.



Gianluigi Donnarumma | Milan

While Gianluigi Donnarumma, is certainly not an unknown commodity, he only turned 20 in February and has largely rebounded following the contract debacle two summers ago and a rather disappointing 2017-18 campaign.

Being labeled as the heir to Italy and Juventus legend Gigi Buffon put the weight of the world on the shoulders of Donnarumma, who has already recorded 138 league appearances and 12 for the Azzurri. He has continued developing in his decision-making and distribution out of the back and will look to hold off the advances of several other talented Italians under Roberto Mancini. Did you say you wanted to see one of Gigio’s stout performances accompanied by a stock Apple instrumental? I thought so.



Juan Musso | Udinese

Caretaking for a relegation-battling side is almost never going to lead to impressive numbers. Nevertheless, Argentine keeper Juan Musso, 24, has been a bright spot for the men from Friuli, who sit just four points above the drop zone.

Musso joined Udinese from Spanish outfit Racing Santander in the summer and went on to earn his spot in the starting XI over Simone Scuffet in October. He has been a vocal leader at the back in 25 games since, while organizing his defense well and commanding the box on set pieces. Quality displays earned him a call-up to the Argentina national team in March and he notched his first international appearance in a 1-0 friendly win over Morocco. Call it luck or goalkeeping instincts, but Musso produced one of the saves of the year in a 2-0 win over Genoa.



Bartłomiej Drągowski | Empoli

Bartłomiej Drągowski, 21, is another caretaker whose value has climbed in recent weeks. The Polish keeper struggled to find playing time at Fiorentina and elected to go on loan to Empoli in January, which has turned out to be a wonderful move for the 21-year-old. He has since logged 10 appearances and has done his part to help keep any lingering hopes of safety alive for Empoli, who are currently 18th on the table.

Want to turn the heads of some of the biggest teams on the peninsula? Producing 17 saves in a single match, a Serie A record, just might do it. Drągowski’s confidence in the air, willingness to come off his line, and quickness in distribution just might earn him a transfer to a bigger club once his loan deal ends in June.



Thomas Strakosha | Lazio

Lazio have experienced a fair share of ups and downs over the past two seasons. During the last campaign the offense soared and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic became one of the most sought-after midfielders in Europe. It seemed the Biancocelesti were primed to return to the Champions League, but Matias Vecino and Inter had other ideas on the final day of the season.

This year has featured plenty of inconsistency in league play, but they find themselves in the Coppa Italia final. Throughout all, goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha, 24, has been a constant. He’s been at the club since 2012, and went on loan to Salernitana in 2015-16, but he took off in the 2017-18 campaign and was named as the best young goalkeeper. On April 17, he matched his previous tally of 11 clean sheets with six matches remaining, and the Albanian international reportedly has a current Champions League semifinalist interested in his services. One of his biggest stops preserved a 1-0 win over Empoli in the fall.



Andrei Radu | Genoa

The Romanian has had one of the better seasons in Serie A despite 16th-place Genoa conceding 53 goals. Radu made his senior debut for Inter in 2015 but only made one appearance before going on loan to Serie B side Avellino last season. In the summer of 2018, Radu, 21, secured a move to gain more playing time in the top tier, signing for Genoa on loan.

Radu has made just under 100 saves in 29 appearances, and he joined an exclusive group when he shutout Juventus as Genoa handed the Bianconeri their first league loss in March. He also played a pivotal role in the Rossoblu taking points from vastly superior Atalanta, Lazio, and Napoli. An eight-save performance in the 1-1 draw with Carlo Ancelotti’s men in April resulted in Team of the Week honors.