'Mannone mission': Sunderland goalkeeper announced as Premiership 'Super Saver'

• Vito Mannone, Sunderland’s player of the season, offers best value for money in Premiership
• Mannone proved to be 96 per cent more cost effective than the average premiership goalkeeper
• All but five of Premiership goalkeepers earn over £10,000 per save

 

 

Vito Mannone, Sunderland’s Italian goalkeeper and the Black Cats player of the season, has topped off a great inaugural season with his club after being awarded the ‘Super Saver Cup’, an award for the premiership goalkeeper who proved best value for their club in 2013/14 premiership season.

Launched by savings and investment provider Scottish Friendly, the accolade was awarded to Mannone for making a save on average every 19 minutes of game time and costing his club just £3,847 per save – 96 per cent cheaper than the going-rate for a premiership goalkeeper this season.

The 26 year-old keeper joined Sunderland at the start of the season on a two year contract and made an immediate impact on the club, including saving two penalties in a shootout against Manchester United in the Capital Cup semi-finals, which saw Sunderland qualify for the finals at Wembley. Mannone’s status as the Premiership's top ‘Super Saver’ is underpinned by his modest (by Premiership standards) weekly wage of £10,000.

The award follows research that was conducted by Scottish Friendly, which shows that on average, premiership goalkeepers made a save once every thirty minutes, at an average cost of £113,712 a save. Coming in a close second and third behind Mannone were Brad Guzan (Aston Villa) and Julian Speroni (Crystal Palace) respectively, while the busiest goalkeeper over the last season was Swansea’s Gerhard Tremmel who was forced into a save on average once every 17 minutes.

 

Neil Lovatt, savings and investment expert at Scottish Friendly said:

There is an expectation on Premiership footballers being paid a hefty salary, but for the club it’s about ensuring value for that money. Mannone has been a great signing for Sunderland, walking away with 11 clean sheets this season and helping secure a cup final at Wembley. He has been a rock for the club and what is probably most pleasing for the fans is that he has been saving them money as well as goals.

 

The worst value goalkeeper in the Premiership was Petr Cech of Chelsea, who made a save on average once every 37 minutes of playing time and, because of the high salary he commands, each one cost his club £62,874. The next two worst value goalkeepers were Joe Hart from Manchester City and Hugo Lloris of Tottenham Hotspurs.