Morgan De Sanctis (; born 26 March 1977) is an Italian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. De Sanctis played for several Italian clubs throughout his career; he began his career with

Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

, and later also played for

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

, and Roma; he also had spells in Spain and Turkey with

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

and

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

respectively. He ended his playing career in France after a season with Monaco in 2017. At international level, he has represented the Italy national team and was included in squads for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

, the

2009 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the eighth FIFA Confederations Cup, Confederations Cup, and was held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton ...

, the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

and

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...

Club career

Early career

After a three-year stint with

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

side

, De Sanctis became a reserve player for the

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

giants

, playing only three times in two seasons before joining

in 1999 in a co-ownership deal along with Marco Zamboni, for 2.5 billion Lire (€1,291,142.25) each. In May 2000, the deal became permanent, for 8 billion lire (€4,131,655), as part of the deal that Juventus signed Marco Zanchi.

Udinese

After three seasons as a backup for Luigi Turci, he finally managed to start in the 2002–03 season. His contract was renewed on 10 November 2000, 18 October 2003 and 20 September 2005, which his annual gross salary increased from €569,000 (€310,000 net) in 2003 to €623,000 (€350,000 net) in 2005, plus other bonuses, including a loyalty bonus since 2005, for €350,878 a season (€200,000 net). He played all 6 group stage matches of the

2005–06 UEFA Champions League The 2005–06 UEFA Champions League was the 51st season of UEFA's premier European club Association football, football tournament, the UEFA Champions League and the 14th since it was rebranded from the European Cup in 1992. 74 teams from 50 footb ...

, and reached round of 16 of the

2005–06 UEFA Cup The 2005–06 UEFA Cup, the 35th edition of the UEFA Cup, was won by Sevilla, beating Middlesbrough in the final. It was the first victory for Sevilla in a European competition, and the first appearance by Middlesbrough in a European final. The ...

Sevilla

On 8 June 2007, he unilaterally terminated his contract with Udinese by misusing

Webster ruling The Webster ruling is a test case in association football law involving Andy Webster, a defender formerly with Heart of Midlothian football club in Edinburgh, Scotland. In September 2006 he became the first player to exploit the updated transf ...

. He signed a four-year contract with

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

, worth €1,381,578.94 a season (€1.05 million in net). Udinese submitted the case to the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber as Udinese and De Sanctis failed to agree on the compensation. On 10 December 2009, the DRC awarded Udinese liable to receive €3,933,134 from De Sanctis, quoting

Matuzalém Matuzalém Francelino da Silva (born 10 June 1980), commonly known as just Matuzalém, is a Brazilian football manager and former player, who played as a midfielder. Club career Early career Matuzalém began his career at Salvador-based Vit� ...

's case as legal reference. The case then appealed to the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; , TAS) is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its courts are located in New York City, Sy ...

and, on 1 March 2011, awarded Udinese a sum of €2,250,055.

Galatasaray (loan)

He was loaned out to

for the 2008–09 season. He played all the league and European matches since 31 August.

Napoli

On 24 July 2009,

signed the goalkeeper from

on a four-year deal for €1.5 million.

Roma

On 25 July 2013,

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

signed De Sanctis on a two-year deal from

for a transfer fee of €500,000. He had aided to Roma's perfect start to the Serie A season, keeping nine clean sheets in the first ten games, conceding just once as they topped the table on 30 points. On 5 January 2014, in a crucial match against Juventus, he conceded three goals for the first time of the season, meaning that Roma were now 8 points behind Juventus at the top of the table. During the 2013–14 season, he went 745 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal in the Italian top-flight; he currently holds the joint seventh-highest unbeaten streak in Serie A, alongside

Luca Marchegiani Luca Marchegiani (; born 22 February 1966) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He represented several Italian clubs throughout his career, in particular Torino and Lazio, where he won various titles. At inter ...

Monaco

On 13 July 2016, De Sanctis was signed by

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

on a one-year deal. He made his debut for the club on 26 July, in the first leg of the Third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League against Fenerbahçe, but was forced off in the 12th minute of the eventual 2–1 away defeat after sustaining an injury. He served as the club's second goalkeeper throughout the season, making his only Ligue 1 appearance on 10 September, in a 4–1 away win over

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

. On 6 December, he featured in Monaco's 3–0 defeat to

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

in the Champions League, becoming the first Italian player to play in the competition with five different clubs (Udinese, Sevilla, Napoli, Roma, and Monaco). Monaco went on to reach the semi-finals of the tournament, losing out to De Sanctis's former club Juventus. On 26 April 2017, he started in the club's 5–0 defeat to eventual champions

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

in the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

semi-final. Monaco finished the 2016–17 season as

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

champions. After De Sanctis's contract expired with the club on 31 July 2017, he announced his retirement from professional football.

International career

At youth level, De Sanctis represented the Italy under-21 side on seven occasions between 1999 and 2000, and won the

2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 12th staging of UEFA's UEFA European Under-21 Championship, European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Slovakia from 27 May to 4 June 2000. The tournament had 47 entrants ...

with the team. He was also part of the Italy squad that took part at the

in Sydney. De Sanctis never became a regular in the Italian senior national team due to the consistency of

Gianluigi Buffon Gianluigi Buffon (; born 28 January 1978) is an Italian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he is ...

, and therefore often served as a back-up keeper. De Sanctis made his senior international debut for Italy on 30 March 2005, under manager

Marcello Lippi Marcello Romeo Lippi (; born 12 April 1948) is an Italian former professional association football, football player and manager, who led the Italy national football team, Italy national team to victory in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was appoin ...

, in a 0–0 friendly draw against

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. Although he did not make Lippi's 23-man squad for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

, he was chosen as one of the four back-up players to be called up in the event of an injury to Buffon,

Angelo Peruzzi Angelo Peruzzi (; born 16 February 1970) is an Italian football coach and former goalkeeper, and a three-time winner of the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year award. Peruzzi is regarded by pundits as one of the greatest Italian goalkeepers of all ...

Marco Amelia Marco Amelia (; born 2 April 1982) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and current coach in charge of Serie D amateurs Nuova Sondrio. A Roma youth product, Amelia spent most of his professional club career ...

. After the

, he secured a place as the team's number two goalkeeper to travel with the Italian squad to

, under

Roberto Donadoni Roberto Donadoni (; born 9 September 1963) is an Italian football manager and former midfielder. A skilful and versatile winger, Donadoni was capable of playing on either flank, or in the centre. He began his career with Atalanta, and late ...

, as well as the

and the

, under Lippi. Although Buffon suffered an injury in the opening match of the latter tournament, De Sanctis did not feature in any matches, as

Federico Marchetti Federico Marchetti (; born 7 February 1983) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Maltese Premier League club Marsaxlokk. Marchetti began his professional club career with Torino in 2002, and was subsequently loane ...

was instead chosen to start; Italy were eliminated in the first round. The team's subsequent coach

Cesare Prandelli Claudio Cesare Prandelli (; born 19 August 1957) is an Italian former football coach and former player. Playing career Prandelli was a midfielder who moved from Atalanta to Juventus in 1979. His first game for Juventus was in the 1979–80 Eur ...

preferred to include younger understudies, such as

Antonio Mirante Antonio Mirante (born 8 July 1983) is an Italian professional footballer who last played as a goalkeeper for Serie A club AC Milan. Club career Juventus and loans After starting his professional career with Juventus, Mirante was loaned to Croto ...

and

Salvatore Sirigu Salvatore Sirigu (, ; born 12 January 1987) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Palermo. Sirigu began his career with Venezia and then Palermo. In 2011, he moved to French side Paris Saint-Germain. Twice v ...

, to Buffon, instead of De Sanctis. However, after injury to Emiliano Viviano, De Sanctis returned to the squad as Buffon's back-up for

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2012 was a series of parallel association football competitions held across Europe between 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012. The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 7 Febru ...

matches in September 2011, and also appeared in Italy's 3–0 friendly win against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

in Pescara on 11 October, three years after his last cap for Italy. He eventually made the squad for the

final tournament Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, but did not play, as Italy reached the final. His final match for Italy came on 16 October 2012, in a 3–1 win over

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

in a 2014 World Cup qualifier. On 26 March 2013, the day of his 36th birthday, he announced that he would be retiring from international football after Italy's World Cup qualifier against

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

later that day. In total, he made 6 appearances for Italy.

Style of play

A reliable and commanding goalkeeper, known for his leadership from the back and vocal presence on the pitch, in his prime, De Sanctis was known in particular for his shot-stopping ability, positioning, handling, and speed when rushing off his line, and is regarded as one of the best Italian goalkeepers of his generation; he was also adept at stopping penalties.

Post-playing career

After retiring as a player, De Sanctis was appointed a team manager with his former club Roma in August 2017. In the autumn of 2017, he enrolled in an

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

's coaching programme, which allowed him to coach youth teams, and first teams in

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

, as well as hold assistant manager positions in Serie B and Serie A. On 15 December, he received his coaching licence. In December 2018, he also obtained his sporting director degree through the Coverciano Technical Centre. After serving as deputy sporting director of Roma for a short period, working alongside sporting director Tiago Pinto, De Sanctis left the ''Giallorossi'' in February 2022. Later in June 2022, he was appointed sporting director of Serie A club

Salernitana Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919 is an Italian professional football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recently in 2011. The current ...

. He left the club on 21 December 2023 by mutual consent, following the appointment of his predecessor Walter Sabatini as the club's new managing director. On 7 June 2024, De Sanctis was announced as the new sporting director of Serie B club

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

. He was dismissed from his post on 3 January 2025, together with his collaborator Giulio Migliaccio, due to Palermo underperforming in the first half of the season and him being publicly criticised by the local supporters.

Personal life

On January 5, 2021, De Sanctis was involved in a car accident in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, which caused severe injuries to him. He was rushed to hospital and had undergone an operation on an abdominal

haemorrhage Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra, vag ...

, where his

spleen The spleen (, from Ancient Greek '' σπλήν'', splḗn) is an organ (biology), organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The spleen plays important roles in reg ...

was removed.

Career statistics

Club

:Source:

International

:Source:

Honours

Club

Juventus *

: 1997–98 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

Udinese *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Galatasaray *

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup, known as Turkcell Super Cup () for sponsorship reasons, is a super cup tournament in Turkish football. Founded in 1966 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2025 by four teams: the winners ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Napoli *

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

: 2011–12 Monaco *

: 2016–17

International

Italy *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

: Runner-up

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Individual

* Pallone d'Argento: 2009–10

References

External links

Player profile
on Napoli's official website

Ligue 1 Player profile

FIGC Player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Sanctis, Morgan Living people 1977 births Footballers from the Province of Chieti Men's association football goalkeepers Italian men's footballers Italy men's youth international footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italy men's international footballers Delfino Pescara 1936 players Juventus FC players Udinese Calcio players Sevilla FC players Galatasaray S.K. footballers SSC Napoli players AS Roma players AS Monaco FC players Serie A players Serie B players La Liga players Süper Lig players Ligue 1 players Olympic footballers for Italy Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics UEFA Euro 2008 players 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2012 players Italian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Monaco Italian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Italian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Italian expatriate sportspeople in Monaco AS Roma non-playing staff 20th-century Italian sportsmen