{"id":30427,"date":"2026-04-16T21:40:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T21:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/16\/david-seaman-pays-heartbreaking-tribute-to-alex-manninger-following-former-arsenal-goalkeepers-death\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T21:40:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T21:40:23","slug":"david-seaman-pays-heartbreaking-tribute-to-alex-manninger-following-former-arsenal-goalkeepers-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/16\/david-seaman-pays-heartbreaking-tribute-to-alex-manninger-following-former-arsenal-goalkeepers-death\/","title":{"rendered":"David Seaman pays heartbreaking tribute to Alex Manninger following former Arsenal goalkeeper’s death"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Former Arsenal and Liverpool goalkeeper Alex Manninger sadly passed away at the age of 48 on Thursday when the Austrian’s car was hit by a train near Salzburg.<\/h2>\n
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April 16, 2026, 19:52<\/span>Updated April 16, 2026 21:20<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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David Seaman pays tribute to Alex Manninger after his death (Image: John Marsh\/EMPICS Sport\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n
David Seaman has said his “great friend” and former teammate Alex Manninger will be remembered as a “great player” in Arsenal history after his death at the age of 48.<\/p>\n
Manninger, who played 64 games in five years at Arsenal and helped the Gunners win the Premier League and FA Cup in 1998, died in a car accident near Salzburg on Thursday morning.<\/p>\n
According to Austrian news reports, Manninger’s car collided with a train at a railroad crossing on the Salzburg Regional Railway in Nussdorf am Haunsberg.<\/p>\n
Manninger, who won 33 caps for Austria, was primarily Seaman’s understudy at Arsenal. However, he replaced the former England number one towards the end of the 1997-98 season and put in a series of impressive performances to help Arsenal win a double in Arsene Wenger’s first full season in charge.<\/p>\n
read more: Former Arsenal and Liverpool goalkeeper Alex Manninger dies at 48 after tragic car accident<\/span><\/span>read more: Alex Manninger shares emotional stories about Liverpool in his last interview before his death<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
“This is shocking news,” Seaman, 62, told the Press Association. “I’m really sad and it’s hard to lose my mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you think about Alex Manninger, he was a great goalkeeper for us. He came in when it really mattered and helped us win the double.<\/p>\n
“He did an amazing job. He was still young when he came into the first team. For a 20-year-old to come into Arsenal and play like that was really special.”<\/p>\n
“He missed quite a few games due to injury. He played 13 games, kept a clean sheet in the important league game against Manchester United at Old Trafford in a 1-0 win, and saved a penalty in the FA Cup quarter-final against West Ham.<\/p>\n
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Seaman and Manninger both played for Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal (Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
“The fans loved him and I have to admit it was doubtful whether I would return to the team or not. He was a big player for Arsenal.”<\/p>\n
Manninger started his career at RB Salzburg and joined the Gunners from Glazer AK in June 1997 for a fee of \u00a3500,000, before leaving Arsenal for Espanyol in 2002.<\/p>\n
He also spent time in Italy with Turin, Bologna, Siena and Juventus, where he won a Serie A winners’ medal, before joining Liverpool on a short-term deal in 2016, but did not feature in a game for the Reds.<\/p>\n
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Manninger won the Premier League title with Arsenal (Image: Allsport)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Seaman, who won three league titles and four FA Cups with Arsenal, said: “When you look at him, he’s very athletic, he’s got great spring, he makes great saves.<\/p>\n
“He was very competitive against the standards he set for himself. He wanted to be the best and if he conceded a goal, he never shut up about it. He never stopped analyzing the goals he conceded, because of how good he wanted to be.<\/p>\n
“He was also a great friend and, like me, a fisherman and we spent many hours together on the lake. My thoughts are with his wife and young family.”<\/p>\n
Arsenal and Liverpool were among those to pay tribute to Manninger, who revealed in a recent interview that manager Jurgen Klopp persuaded him to sign for the Reds.<\/p>\n
He told Gazzetta dello Sport: “It all started with a phone call. Jurgen knew everything about me. I had beaten the Dortmund team in Augsburg two years ago. (He) said: “I want that goalkeeper to be there. You saved everything against us that day. You have to do it for me too.”<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though I had never really played and I was 40 years old, it felt great to quit football and say goodbye to the fans in front of the Kop.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37027946.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200f\/0_SOCCER_Manninger_14305717.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>![\"David](\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article29595084.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_David-Seaman-6.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>![](\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37027677.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_Alex-Manninger.jpg\")
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