Paulo Gazzaniga

Paulo Dino Gazzaniga (born 2 January 1992) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Elche CF on loan from Tottenham Hotspur and the Argentina national team.

Paulo Gazzaniga
Gazzaniga playing for Southampton in 2015
Personal information
Full name Paulo Dino Gazzaniga[1]
Date of birth (1992-01-02) 2 January 1992[2]
Place of birth Murphy, Argentina
Height 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)[3]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Elche
(on loan from Tottenham Hotspur)
Number 1
Youth career
Unión y Cultura
2007–2011 Valencia
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2012 Gillingham 20 (0)
2012–2017 Southampton 21 (0)
2016–2017 → Rayo Vallecano (loan) 32 (0)
2017– Tottenham Hotspur 22 (0)
2021– → Elche (loan) 0 (0)
National team‡
2018– Argentina 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:05, 1 March 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15:48, 27 November 2018 (UTC)

Early life

Gazzaniga was born in Murphy, Santa Fe, the same small town in Argentina where his future Southampton and Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino was also born.[2][4] His father is Daniel Gazzaniga, a footballer, as is his brother Gianfranco who plays as a goalkeeper for SD Ponferradina. Gazzaniga studied in the only public school and a secondary college in Murphy. He played for the football team of Centro Recreativo Unión y Cultura in Murphy as a goalkeeper.[4]

Club career

Early career

In 2007, when he was 15, Gazzaniga left his hometown side Unión y Cultura with his brother and father for Spain, where he joined the Spanish club Valencia's youth setup.[5][6] However, he failed to make a first team appearance for Los Che, and was subsequently released in May 2011.

In July 2011, Gazzaniga signed a two-year contract with League Two club Gillingham, to challenge Ross Flitney for the number one spot.[7] Gazzaniga was recommended to Gillingham manager Andy Hessenthaler by Gary Penrice, Wigan Athletic's European scout, following his release from Valencia.[8] He made his professional debut for the club on 4 October, in a 3–1 home defeat to Barnet in the Football League Trophy.[9]

Southampton

On 20 July 2012, Gazzaniga signed a four-year deal with newly promoted Premier League side Southampton, with Tommy Forecast going to Gillingham on loan as part of the deal.[10][11] He described it as "a crazy situation" but said it was like "a dream".[10]

Gazzaniga made his debut on 28 August in a 4–1 victory against Stevenage in the second round of the League Cup.[12] He made his league debut almost a month later, on 22 September in a 4–1 win against Aston Villa.[13]

Gazzaniga was used as cover for first choice keepers Kelvin Davis, Artur Boruc and Fraser Forster, making only two appearances in 2014–15.[14]

He made two Premier League appearances in the 2015–16 season, in the 1–0 defeat away to Crystal Palace and a home 2–0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, both in December 2015.[15] He signed a new four-year deal with Southampton on 11 September 2015.[16]

On 29 July 2016, Gazzaniga joined Segunda División club Rayo Vallecano on loan for the 2016–17 season.[17]

Tottenham Hotspur

On 23 August 2017, Gazzaniga signed for fellow Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur on a five-year contract. He reunited with his compatriot and former Southampton manager, Mauricio Pochettino.[18] He made his Premier League debut for the club on 5 November 2017, playing in a 1–0 victory against Crystal Palace.[19] Pochettino said that Gazzaniga performed "fantastically well" on his debut.[20]

In 2018–19 after starting for Tottenham in the Premier League against Brighton & Hove Albion and Huddersfield Town, in the EFL Cup against Watford and West Ham United and in the UEFA Champions League home fixture against PSV, he earned his first Argentina national team call-up.[21] He became effectively the number two goalkeeper for Tottenham this season, having started in more games than Michel Vorm when Hugo Lloris was not available.[22]

In the 2019–20 season, following Lloris' elbow injury in the opening ten minutes of a loss at Brighton & Hove Albion on 5 October 2019, Gazzaniga enjoyed an extended run as Spurs' first-choice goalkeeper.[23]

Loan to Elche

On 1 February 2021, Gazzaniga joined Spanish side Elche on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season.[24]

International career

Gazzaniga made his first international appearance on 20 November 2018, coming off the bench to replace Gerónimo Rulli in the 59th minute in a friendly match against Mexico, and helped keep a clean sheet in a 2–0 win for Argentina.[25]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 1 March 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Gillingham 2011–12[26] League Two 20010001[lower-alpha 3]0220
Southampton 2012–13[27] Premier League 900020—110
2013–14[28] Premier League 800000—80
2014–15[14] Premier League 200000—20
2015–16[29] Premier League 200000—20
2017–18[30] Premier League 00———00
Total 2100020—230
Rayo Vallecano (loan) 2016–17[31] Segunda División 32020——340
Tottenham Hotspur 2017–18[30] Premier League 1000000010
2018–19[32] Premier League 3020501[lower-alpha 4]0110
2019–20[33] Premier League 18020104[lower-alpha 5]0250
2020–21 Premier League 0000000000
Total 220406050370
Elche (loan) 2020–21 La Liga 0000——00
Career total 9507080601160
  1. Includes FA Cup and Copa del Rey
  2. Includes League Cup/EFL Cup
  3. Appearance in Football League Trophy
  4. Appearance in UEFA Champions League
  5. Appearance in UEFA Champions League

International
As of match played 20 November 2018[34]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Argentina 201810
Total10

Honours

Southampton

Tottenham Hotspur

References
  1. "Squads for 2017/18 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  2. "Paulo Gazzaniga". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  3. "Paulo Gazzaniga: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  4. "Murphy: The Argentine town united by Pochettino, Gazzaniga and Spurs". Tottenham Hotspur. 18 May 2019.
  5. "Los porteros "suplentes" que el Valencia dejó escapar" [The "reserve" goalkeepers who Valencia let out] (in Spanish). Plaza Deportiva. 26 January 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  6. "Paulo Gazzaniga, debut argentino en la Premier League" [Paulo Gazzaniga, Argentine debut in Premier League] (in Spanish). Goal.com. 22 September 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  7. "Gillingham sign goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga". Hereford United F.C. 28 July 2011. Archived from the original on 18 October 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
  8. Calvin, Michael (2014). The Nowhere Men: The Unknown Story of Football's True Talent Spotters. Random House. p. 166. ISBN 9780099580263.
  9. "Gillingham 1–3 Barnet". BBC Sport. 4 October 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
  10. "Southampton sign Gillingham goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga". BBC Sport. 20 July 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  11. "Saint Paulo Becomes Fourth Signing". Southampton F.C. 20 July 2012. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  12. "Stevenage 1–4 Southampton". BBC Sport. 28 August 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  13. Lewis, Aimee (22 September 2012). "Southampton 4–1 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  14. "Games played by Paulo Gazzaniga in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  15. "Crystal Palace 1 Southampton 0". BBC Sport. 12 December 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  16. "Paulo Gazzaniga extends contract until 2019". Southampton F.C. 11 September 2015. Archived from the original on 11 August 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  17. "Gazzaniga joins Rayo on season-long loan". Southampton F.C. 29 July 2016. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  18. "Tottenham sign Southampton goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga". BBC Sport. 23 August 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  19. "Son Heung-Min strikes as Tottenham squeeze past Crystal Palace". ESPN Sport. 5 November 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  20. Hafez, Shamoon (5 November 2017). "Tottenham Hotspur 1 Crystal Palace 0". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  21. "Argentina call for Gazzaniga". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  22. Giannini, Nathan (15 May 2019). "Tottenham Hotspur Season in Review 2018-19: Goalkeepers". Cartilage Free Captain.
  23. Law, Matt (14 December 2019). "Tottenham Hotspur 'to open Paulo Gazzaniga contract talks'". Sports Mole. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  24. "Gazzaniga loaned to Elche". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  25. "Argentina knocks off Mexico with Mauro Icardi, Paulo Dybala goals". espn.com. 21 November 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  26. "Games played by Paulo Gazzaniga in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  27. "Games played by Paulo Gazzaniga in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  28. "Games played by Paulo Gazzaniga in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  29. "Games played by Paulo Gazzaniga in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  30. "Games played by Paulo Gazzaniga in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  31. "P. Gazzaniga: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  32. "Games played by Paulo Gazzaniga in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  33. "Games played by Paulo Gazzaniga in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  34. "Gazzaniga, Paulo". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  35. "Report: Southampton 2–1 Blackburn Rovers (Under-21 Premier League Cup final second leg)". Southampton F.C. 20 April 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  36. McNulty, Phil (1 June 2019). "Tottenham Hotspur 0–2 Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
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