Southampton will be shocked at 23-appearance fringe player - he’s now excelling in La Liga | OneFootball

Paulo Gazzaniga joined Southampton from League Two Gillingham in 2012 and is now excelling for Girona.

Paulo Gazzaniga's career path has been unorthodox by almost all metrics, but the former Gillingham, Southampton and Spurs goalkeeper now finds himself excelling for La Liga outfit Girona.

Take one look at Gazzaniga's career path, and chances are eyebrows will be raised.

Born in Argentina, Gazzaniga joined the youth system of Spanish side Valencia in 2007 at 15-years-old. However, he failed to make a single senior appearance for the club before being released in 2011.

Normally, you would expect someone in a similar situation to remain in Spain and find another club, return to his native Argentina or move to another Spanish-speaking nation, but remarkably, the shot-stopper joined English League Two side Gillingham on a free transfer to compete for the number one spot.

After just 20 appearances in England's fourth division, the Argentine was on the move once more, linking up with newly-promoted Premier League outfit Southampton, where he would initially act as backup.

In just two years, the Argentine had gone from being a Valencia outcast, to competing for a starting berth in League Two, to now competing for one in the Premier League.

Paulo Gazzaniga joined Southampton to compete for the number one spot

Following promotion to the Premier League, Southampton were looking to strengthen their options in all departments across the pitch, bringing in the likes of Gaston Ramirez from Bologna, Maya Yoshida from VVV Venlo and Nathaniel Clyne from Crystal Palace.

Alongside those additions was the £2 million purchase of Argentine keeper Gazzaniga, who joined the club with the impression that he'd be competing with Kelvin Davis for the number one position.

With Davis in goal, Southampton had lost each of their opening four league fixtures, conceding 14 goals in the process, and Gazzaniga was thrust into action for their fifth match, a 4-1 victory over Aston Villa.

He'd start in eight of the Saints' next 10 Premier League matches before picking up a shoulder injury, ruling him out for the rest of the season.

During his next three seasons on the South Coast, Gazzaniga played just 12 Premier League matches, before spending a season on-loan with Rayo Vallecano in the Spanish second-tier, where Spurs signed him permanently in 2017.

Paulo Gazzaniga's career has been remarkable

Gazzaniga has since played for Spurs, Elche, Fulham and his current employers Girona since leaving Southampton, the latter of which he has found a home and truly nailed down a starting berth for the first time in his career.

Now 33-years-old, Gazzaniga has been capped by Argentina once and helped Girona to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in their history in the 2023/24 season.

The Argentine has solidified himself as Girona's number one net option, now entering his fourth season at the club. Last season, he played as many games for Girona in all competitions (43) as he did in the Premier League across his seven years in the English top flight.

With Southampton suffering a damning relegation from the Premier League last season, winning just two matches all campaign and conceding 86 goals in the process, Saints fans might be left wishing they had Gazzaniga in between the sticks.

The Argentine played just 23 times for Southampton before his departure, and the club may be left rueing their decision to not give him more of a chance.