1. Early life
Gazzaniga was born in Murphy, Santa Fe, a small town in Argentina that is also the birthplace of his future Southampton and Tottenham manager, Mauricio Pochettino. His father, Daniel Gazzaniga, was a footballer, as is his brother, Gianfranco Gazzaniga, who also plays as a goalkeeper. Gazzaniga attended the only public school and a secondary college in Murphy. He began his football journey playing as a goalkeeper for the local team, Centro Recreativo Unión y Cultura, in Murphy. In 2007, at the age of 15, Gazzaniga left his hometown club with his brother and father to move to Spain.
2. Club career
Paulo Gazzaniga's professional journey began in Spain with Valencia CF's youth setup, before he moved to England for his senior debut with Gillingham F.C.. He then progressed through several prominent clubs, including Southampton F.C., Tottenham Hotspur F.C., and Fulham F.C., with loan spells in Spain at Rayo Vallecano and Elche CF, before settling permanently at Girona FC.
2.1. Youth career
After moving to Spain in 2007, Gazzaniga joined the youth academy of Spanish club Valencia CF. Despite his development there, he was unable to secure a first-team appearance for the club and was subsequently released in May 2011.
2.2. Gillingham F.C.
In July 2011, Gazzaniga signed a two-year contract with League Two club Gillingham F.C.. He was brought in to compete with Ross Flitney for the starting goalkeeper position. His signing was a recommendation to Gillingham manager Andy Hessenthaler by Gary Penrice, a European scout for Wigan Athletic, following Gazzaniga's departure from Valencia. He made his professional debut for Gillingham on 4 October 2011, in a 3-1 home defeat to Barnet in the Football League Trophy. For his performances during the 2011-12 season, Gazzaniga was recognized as Gillingham's Young Player of the Season.
2.3. Southampton F.C.
On 20 July 2012, Gazzaniga signed a four-year deal with newly promoted Premier League side Southampton F.C.. As part of the transfer agreement, Tommy Forecast moved to Gillingham on loan. Gazzaniga described the move as "a crazy situation" but also like "a dream".
He made his debut for Southampton on 28 August 2012, in a 4-1 victory against Stevenage in the second round of the League Cup. His league debut followed almost a month later, on 22 September, in a 4-1 win against Aston Villa. During his time at Southampton, Gazzaniga primarily served as cover for first-choice goalkeepers such as Kelvin Davis, Artur Boruc, and Fraser Forster. He made only two appearances in the 2014-15 season. In the 2015-16 season, he made two Premier League appearances, both in December 2015: a 1-0 away defeat to Crystal Palace and a 2-0 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. On 11 September 2015, he signed a new four-year contract extension with Southampton.
2.3.1. Loan to Rayo Vallecano
On 29 July 2016, Gazzaniga joined Segunda División club Rayo Vallecano on loan for the 2016-17 season.
2.4. Tottenham Hotspur
On 23 August 2017, Gazzaniga signed a five-year contract with fellow Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur F.C., reuniting with his compatriot and former Southampton manager, Mauricio Pochettino. He was assigned jersey number 22. He made his Premier League debut for Tottenham on 5 November 2017, in a 1-0 victory against Crystal Palace. Pochettino praised his debut performance, stating that Gazzaniga performed "fantastically well."
In the 2018-19 season, Gazzaniga started in several key matches, including Premier League fixtures against Brighton & Hove Albion and Huddersfield Town, EFL Cup matches against Watford and West Ham United, and a UEFA Champions League home fixture against PSV. His performances earned him his first call-up to the Argentina national team. He effectively became the second-choice goalkeeper for Tottenham during this season, starting more games than Michel Vorm when Hugo Lloris was unavailable.
During the 2019-20 season, Gazzaniga enjoyed an extended run as Tottenham's first-choice goalkeeper following Lloris' elbow injury in the opening minutes of a match against Brighton & Hove Albion on 5 October 2019. His first appearance of the season was on 21 September against Leicester City. In a match against Liverpool, despite a 2-1 defeat, he made 11 saves out of 13 shots on target. However, in a match against Chelsea, he conceded a penalty after misjudging a through pass and colliding with Marcos Alonso. His final league appearance of the season was against Watford, where he saved a penalty from Troy Deeney and kept a clean sheet. He finished the league season with a save rate of 70.9% in 18 matches, ranking 10th among 23 goalkeepers with at least 10 appearances. For the 2020-21 season, his bench appearances became rare due to the arrival of Joe Hart.
2.4.1. Loan to Elche CF
On 1 February 2021, Gazzaniga joined Spanish side Elche on loan for the remainder of the 2020-21 season. He made 8 appearances during this spell but was unable to displace the regular goalkeeper, Édgar Badía.
2.5. Fulham F.C.
On 24 July 2021, Gazzaniga joined EFL Championship club Fulham on a two-year contract. He served as a backup to Marek Rodák during his first year. However, with the arrival of Bernd Leno in August 2022, he was pushed to third-choice goalkeeper. He was subsequently released by the London club at the conclusion of the 2022-23 season.
2.6. Girona FC
On 1 September 2022, Gazzaniga joined Girona on loan for the 2022-23 season. Following a successful loan spell, he signed a permanent two-year contract with the club on 6 June 2023. On 14 February 2024, he further extended his contract with Girona until 2027. He wears jersey number 13 for Girona.
In the 2023-24 season, Gazzaniga played in all 38 La Liga matches, achieving twelve clean sheets. His consistent performances significantly contributed to his club securing third place in the league and their first-ever qualification for the UEFA Champions League.
On 18 September 2024, during Girona's inaugural European match, he conceded an own goal in the 90th minute, which led to a 1-0 away defeat against Paris Saint-Germain. However, just a few weeks later, on 6 October, he notably saved three penalty kicks, including a retaken one, in a 2-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao.
3. International career
Gazzaniga made his first and only international appearance for the Argentina national football team on 20 November 2018. He came off the bench to replace Gerónimo Rulli in the 59th minute of a friendly match against Mexico. He helped his team keep a clean sheet in a 2-0 victory for Argentina.
4. Career statistics
Club statistics are accurate as of match played 23 February 2025.
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Gillingham | 2011-12 | League Two | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 1 | 0 | 22 | 0 | |
| Southampton | 2012-13 | Premier League | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - | 11 | 0 | ||
| 2013-14 | Premier League | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 8 | 0 | |||
| 2014-15 | Premier League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 2 | 0 | |||
| 2015-16 | Premier League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 2 | 0 | |||
| 2017-18 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - | 23 | 0 | ||||
| Rayo Vallecano (loan) | 2016-17 | Segunda División | 32 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | 34 | 0 | |||
| Tottenham Hotspur | 2017-18 | Premier League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 1 | 0 | |
| 2018-19 | Premier League | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | 11 | 0 | ||
| 2019-20 | Premier League | 18 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | - | 25 | 0 | ||
| 2020-21 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 22 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | - | 37 | 0 | |||
| Elche (loan) | 2020-21 | La Liga | 8 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 8 | 0 | ||||
| Fulham | 2021-22 | Championship | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 15 | 0 | ||
| Girona (loan) | 2022-23 | La Liga | 28 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 28 | 0 | ||||
| Girona | 2023-24 | La Liga | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 38 | 0 | |||
| 2024-25 | La Liga | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 7 | 0 | - | 32 | 0 | |||
| Total | 91 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 7 | 0 | - | 98 | 0 | ||||
| Career total | 196 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 226 | 0 | ||
International statistics are accurate as of match played 20 November 2018.
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 2018 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 1 | 0 | |
5. Honours
Southampton
- U21 Premier League Cup: 2014-15
Tottenham Hotspur
- UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2018-19
Fulham
- EFL Championship: 2021-22
Individual
- Gillingham Young Player of the Season: 2011-12