Salvatore Aronica (born 20 January 1978) is an Italian
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
manager and former player who played as a
defender, currently in charge of club
Trapani
Trapani ( ; ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') with 54,887 inhabitants, on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the mai ...
.
Playing career
Aronica spent his early career with
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 ...
, but he was sent to
Crotone
Crotone (; ; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy.
Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( or ; ), it became a great Greek city, home of the renowned mathematician-philosopher Pythagoras amongst other famous citizens, and one ...
on loan. The deal became a
co-ownership deal for the 2000–01 and 2001–02 seasons for €91,000. In June 2002 Aronica returned to Juventus for an undisclosed fee but was loaned to Serie B side
Ascoli with an option to purchase. However, the next season he moved to
Messina
Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...
from Juventus along with
Luigi Lavecchia and
Andrea Gentile
Andrea Gentile (born 9 February 1980) is an Italian retired footballer who played as a midfielder.
Career
Born in Aosta Valley, Gentile started his career at Juventus. After spent 2002–03 season loaned back to Aosta for Serie D side Valle d' ...
in another co-ownership deal. Aronica was valued €1 million at that time, thus Messina purchased half for €500,000. In June 2006, Messina purchased Aronica for an undisclosed fee (around €240,000 to €300,000) and Lavecchia and Gentile outright for free. However, in July 2006 he was sold to
Reggina.
He was signed by Napoli on 1 September 2008, for €2,675,000, With the departure of
Maurizio Domizzi and
Erminio Rullo
Erminio Rullo (born 19 February 1984) is an Italian former footballer who played as a centre back.
Club career
Lecce
Born in Naples, Campania, Rullo started his career with Apulia side Lecce. He archived a record by winning three consecutive ...
, Aronica was featured as a left-sided central defender or as a left-sided
wingback ahead of
Mirko Savini in the team's 3–5–2 formation, sharing the role of the team's left wingback with
Luigi Vitale.
In
2010–11 season he started to play with
Paolo Cannavaro
Paolo Cannavaro (; born 26 June 1981) is an Italian former professional association football, footballer who played as a centre-back and most recently was the head coach of Serie C club Pro Vercelli.
After beginning his career with S.S.C. Napol ...
and
Hugo Campagnaro consistently. Although they played well that season, in the following season, the squad's lack of depth made it difficult to face both
2011–12 UEFA Champions League
The 2011–12 UEFA Champions League was the 57th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 20th season in its current Champions League format. As part of a trial that started in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa Lea ...
and
2011–12 Serie A
The 2011–12 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM after its headline sponsors) was the 110th season of top-tier Italian football, the 80th in a round-robin tournament, and the second since its organization under a league committee separate from S ...
, making the club slip from a third-place finish in 2010–11 to fifth place in 2011–12.
In May 2012 Aronica renewed his contract (1+1 year).
On 29 December 2012, he moved to
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 ...
, signing a contract until 2015. His Palermo stay was, however, difficult from the very beginning, as he did not succeed in helping his club to escape relegation and was subsequently excluded from the first team for the whole
2013–14 Serie B
The 2013–14 Serie B (known as the Serie B Eurobet for sponsorship reasons) was the 82nd season since its establishment in 1929. A total of 22 teams contested the league: 15 of which were returning from the 2012–13 Serie B, 2012–13 season, ...
season, as well as the early part of 2014–15. He mutually rescinded his contract in December 2014.
On 14 January 2015, he returned to
Lega Pro
The Lega Italiano Calcio Professionistico (Italian for Professional Football Italian League), commonly known as Lega Pro (Pro League), is the governing body that runs the third tier of professional football competitions in Italy, the Serie C. I ...
side Reggina. After helping the club avoid relegation, he left the team at the end of the season, and briefly joined Calcio Sicilia, before retiring from professional football in 2015.
Coaching career
After retiring, Aronica obtained his Italy Category 2 Coaching License (UEFA A License), making him eligible to coach youth and Lega Pro teams or as an assistant manager in Serie A and Serie B. In September 2018, it was announced that Aronica would join
Trapani
Trapani ( ; ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') with 54,887 inhabitants, on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the mai ...
as a youth coach.
On 15 July 2019, he moved in as Under-17 youth coach for Trapani.
In July 2020 he took over his first coaching role, as manager of
Serie D
The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...
club
Savoia. He was sacked on 4 February 2021.
On 19 December 2022, Aronica was unveiled as head coach of
Eccellenza Sicily
Eccellenza Sicily () is the regional Italian Eccellenza football division for clubs in Sicily. It is competed among 32 teams in two groups (A and B). The winners of the Groups are promoted to Serie D. The clubs that finish second also have the c ...
amateurs Don Carlo Misilmeri. He left the club by the end of the season after guiding it to the promotion playoffs.
In July 2024, Aronica signed as the new Under-19 coach of
Trapani
Trapani ( ; ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') with 54,887 inhabitants, on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the mai ...
. On 2 September 2024, following the dismissal of head coach Alfio Torrisi, Aronica was temporarily promoted in charge of the first team. After leading Trapani to a 2–1 away win to
Crotone
Crotone (; ; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy.
Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( or ; ), it became a great Greek city, home of the renowned mathematician-philosopher Pythagoras amongst other famous citizens, and one ...
on his debut, Trapani chairman and owner Valerio Antonini announced to have appointed Aronica as the permanent head coach for the season. He was removed from his managerial duties on 11 December 2024, after failing to improve the team's results. On 30 March 2025, he was re-hired as head coach of Trapani following the dismissal of
Vincenzo Torrente
Vincenzo Torrente (born 12 February 1966) is an Italian football coach and former player,.
Playing career
After starting his career at minor league club Nocerina, Torrente joined Genoa at the age of 19. A centre-back, he quickly became a mainst ...
, becoming the fifth manager of the season of the club.
Personal life
On 23 June 2003, Aronica married Caterina Moltrasio. Together, they have two children, born in 2004 and 2010.
In May 2007, Aronica was made an honorary citizen of
Reggio Calabria
Reggio di Calabria (; ), commonly and officially referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the List of cities in Italy, largest city in Calabria as well as the seat of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria. As ...
after helping the local club Reggina avoid relegation during the
2006–07 Serie A
The 2006–07 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 105th season of top-tier Italian football, the 75th in a round-robin tournament. It was scheduled to begin on 26 and 27 August but was postponed to 2 September 2006 ...
season.
Controversy
On 24 March 2009, Aronica, along with
Franco Brienza and Vincenzo Montalbano, was included in the list of players who were accused of conspiring with
the Mafia
"Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other organized crime groups from Italy. The central ...
to fix some of Palermo's matches in 2003. Aronica was playing for Ascoli at the time but was involved in one of the matches which was under investigation, namely Ascoli–Palermo (1–2), from 24 May 2003. In September 2009, however, the case was archived, as the statute of limitations had expired.
In July 2018, Aronica and former
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 ...
footballers
Pepe Reina and
Paolo Cannavaro
Paolo Cannavaro (; born 26 June 1981) is an Italian former professional association football, footballer who played as a centre-back and most recently was the head coach of Serie C club Pro Vercelli.
After beginning his career with S.S.C. Napol ...
were subject to a hearing by the
Italian Football Federation
The Italian Football Federation (, ; FIGC ), known colloquially as (), is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano, the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence.
It manages a ...
over links to the
Esposito brothers, high-ranking members of the
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aronica, Salvatore
1978 births
Ascoli Calcio 1898 FC players
ACR Messina players
Men's association football defenders
Italian men's footballers
Juventus FC players
SSC Napoli players
FC Crotone players
Living people
Footballers from Palermo
AS Reggina 1914 players
Serie A players
Serie B players
Palermo FC players
Italian football managers
Serie C managers
FC Trapani 1905 managers