Morgan De Sanctis

Early career

After a three-year stint with Serie B side Pescara, De Sanctis became a reserve player for the Serie A giants Juventus, playing only three times in two seasons before joining Udinese 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, and reached round of 16 of the 2005–06 UEFA Cup.

Sevilla

On 8 June 2007, he unilaterally terminated his contract with Udinese by misusing Webster ruling. He signed a four-year contract with Sevilla FC, 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's case as legal reference. The case then appealed to the Court of Arbitration…

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 with the team. He was also part of the Italy squad that took part at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. De Sanctis never became a regular in the Italian senior national team due to the consistency of Gianluigi Buffon, 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, in a 0–0 friendly draw against Iceland. Although he did not make Lippi's 23-man squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, 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 or Marco Amelia. After the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he secured a place as the team's number two goalkeeper to travel with the Italian squad to UEFA Euro 2008, under Roberto Donadoni, as well as the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2010 FIFA World Cup, 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 was instead chosen to start; Italy were eliminated in the first round. The team's subsequent coach Cesare Prandelli preferred to include younger understudies, such as Antonio Mirante and Salvatore Sirigu, to Buffon, instead of De Sanctis. However, after injury to Emiliano Viviano, De Sanctis returned to the squad as…

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.

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