Silvestri, Marco

2014-2017 (Player Leeds Details)(Player Details)

Goalkeeper

Born: Castelnovo ne Monti, Italy: 02-03-1991

Debut: v Millwall (a): 09-08-2014

Height & Weight: 6ft 3ins 11st 3lb

Born in the Italian Province of Emilia he joined local club Modena in the 2009-10 season and became third choice goalkeeper behind Enrico Alfonso and Antonio Narciso. He played twice for the Italian Under Twenty team while at Modena, making his debut on 8th December 2009 in a 1-4 loss away to Germany and on 12th December 2010 in a 4-1 home win over Switzerland. In August 2010 he had been signed by Chievo, a Verona based Serie A side, on a temporary basis as third choice keeper behind Stefano Sorrentino and Lorenzo Squizzi. He was picked five more times for the Italian Under-Twenty squad, on 12th October 2010, as an unused substitute, in a 3-0 home win against the Swiss, then twice playing, on 17th November 2010 in a 1-2 home defeat by Germany, as an eighty-fifth minute substitute, and a full game on 9th February 2011 in a 3-1 away defeat in Germany, then being an unused substitute on 25th March 2011 in a 1-0 away defeat by Switzerland and playing on 20th April 2011 in a 0-1 home defeat by Spain. In June 2011 Chievo took up the option to buy him for 300,000 Euros to become co-owners of his registration. He went on to be picked five times for the Italian Under-Twenty-One squad in the Toulon Tournament of 2011, four times being an unused substitute, with Sergio Viotti being the first choice, in a 2-0 win over Ivory Coast on 1st June 2011, against Portugal in a 1-1 draw two days later, in a 1-1 draw with Colombia on 5th June in preliminary games and also 0-1 loss in the semi-final against France on 8th June before final getting a run in the third place play-off against Mexico on 10th June 2011, which Italy won 5-4 on penalties after the game had been drawn 1-1 after extra-time. He played his only game for Chievo as a half-time substitute for Kevin Constant in the 2-0 away defeat by Udinese on 6th January 2011 and he did, however, make his debut for the Chievo Primavera B team on 11th September 2010 in a 0-2 home defeat by Atlanta and proceeded to make fifteen appearances for the 2010-11 season. in July 2011 he was loaned to Lega Pro - Girone A side AC Reggiana 1919, making his debut in a 1-1 away draw at AC Pavia on 4th September 2011 and making twenty-seven League and one Cup starts before returning to Chievo who paid a further 150,000 Euros to purchase his contract outright in June 2012. He was then loaned to Serie B side Biancosudati Padova in July 2012 and on 25th August 2012 he was on the bench for them in a 1-1 home draw with SS Virtus Lanciano. He made his Padova debut as a seventy-fifth minute substitute for the injured Luca Anania in a 0-0 draw at Brescio Calcio. He also came on as a substitute for Diego Farias, who was sacrificed after Luca Anania had been sent off in the twenty sixth minute of a 0-1 away defeat at SS Juve Stabia on 29th September 2012. He then played the next two fixtures, a 2-1 home win over Hellas Verona on 5th October 2012, his full debut, and a 2-0 win at Vincenza Calcio on 14th October, in Luca Anania's enforced absence. His next appearance was as an eightieth minute substitute for Luca Anania in a 1-1 away draw at FC Bari on 27th October 2012. He became first choice keeper for the 0-0 home draw with AS Livorno on 26th January 2013 and played the remaining twenty games of the season. He returned to Chievo for the start of the 2013-14 season and was on the bench as deputy to Christian Puggioni for the opening Serie A game in a 0-0 draw at Parma FC on 25th August 2013. It was not until 4th December 2013 that he played his first game of the season in a Coppa Italia 4-1 home win over Regina Calcio, but he also started in the next round in a 0-2 defeat at ACF Fiorentina on 8th January 2014. On 30th January 2014 he joined Cagliari and was included on the bench as deputy to Vlada Avramov for the 1-0 home win over ACF Fiorentina on 1st February 2014. He held that position until he made his starting debut on 27th April in a 1-0 home win over Parma FC. However, it was not to last long, as in the next fixture in a 0-3 defeat at SSC Napoli he was sent off in the fifty-fourth minute and was suspended for the next fixture with parent club AC Chievo Verona, but he did return for the final game of the season in a 0-3 away defeat by Juventus on 18th May 2014 and therefore made three starts while at Cagliari. In the loan deal Cagliari did have the option to purchase a half share in his contract at the end of the 2013-14 season. However, on 8th July 2014 the former owner of Cagliari, Massimo Cellino, and now President of Leeds United, after two weeks of negotiations saw him sign for the English club for a reported fee of £400,000 on a four year contract and he joined the Leeds pre-season tour party in Italy. Silvestri was given the #1 jersey in the Leeds squad and after a successful pre-season, he made his Leeds debut in the first Championship game of the season at Millwall on 9th August 2014. He soon proved his worth at Leeds with stand out performances in keeping a clean sheet in the 1-0 home win over Middlesbrough on 16th August 2014 and another clean sheet and the man of the match award in the 1-0 home win over Bolton Wanderers on 30th August followed by another impressive performance in the 3-1 away win at Bournemouth on 16th September, when he stood alone as Leeds were outplayed for long periods of the first hour of the game. He had an outstanding first season at Elland Road and established himself as a firm favourite amongst the fans. It did look as though he was going to complete the League season as the only ever-present in the Leeds team, but apparently he picked up an injury in the home defeat by Norwich City and was one of several Leeds players who appeared to become unavailable at the same time. Neil Redfearn accepted that he was injured and he missed the final three League games. Despite the signing of Ross Turnbull, he remained the first choice for 2015-16 and missed only two of the Leeds games, the League Cup at Doncaster Rovers on 13th August 2015, and then after being sent off at Rotherham United on 2nd April 2016, he missed the game at home to Queens Park Rangers, three days later, due to suspension. However, Turnbull was sidelined for most of the 2015-16 season after sustaining an injury in training in early October 2015 which necessitated Under Twenty-One's keeper, Charlie Horton, sitting on the bench as the only cover for seven games before he had to return to his American home for family reasons in late November 2015. This left the highly rated Under- Twenty-One, Bailey Peack-Farrell as the cover for the rest of the season and it was he that stood in for Silvestri in the home game with Queens Park Rangers, which young Irish keeper Eric Grimes was on the bench for that game and one other when Peacock-Farrell was not available. The summer of 2016 saw hectic activity by Leeds in the transfer market and this included the goalkeeper position. Eric Grimes was released by the club early in the season, but former England goalkeeper the now thirty-seven year-old Rob Green was given a one year contract and it would be between he and Silvestri. New Manager Gary Monk gave the "Number One" jersey to Green and "Number Twelve" became Silvestri's new number. Green was an ever- present in the League and Silvestri had to be content with starting in four League Cup and two F.A. Cup ties. He showed he had lost not of his ability when he made three brilliant saves that won United the shoot out in the League Cup victory over Norwich City on 25th October 2016 at Elland Road. Already facing Green, Turnbull and Peacock-Farrell as competition for the number one jersey, he saw further opposition arrive in Felix Wiedwald from Bundesliga club Werder Bremen. Silvestri did play the full ninety minutes in a hastily arranged closed door friendly in Austria against the Turkish club Bursapor on 17th July 2017. It proved to be his final game for United as he moved to Hellas Verona for an undisclosed fee the following day, on a four-year contract. Silvestri said he had departed Elland Road with fond memories of his three years with the Whites who the keeper said are one of the most important teams in the country. He said “I want to say goodbye and thank all the Leeds fans for these three years together,” said Silvestri, writing in a statement on his personal Twitter page. “They have been so important for me and for my career, I will always feel connected to Leeds United because it’s a historic team and one of the most important in England. “Thank you and all the best to all my team-mates and fans. You deserve the best, hope to see you soon in the Premier League. Thank you for everything, goodbye.” He became second in line for the keeper's jersey wearing the #17 shirt with Brazilian Nicolas David Andra having the Number One. He is still to make his debut for the club, but was on the bench in the clubs first five Serie A and one Cup games.