Italian keeper Marco Amelia who plays for Livorno has agreed terms with Palermo and will make his switch to the Serie A side soon. He snubbed the offer from AC Milan, Lazio and Liverpool to choose the not so popular Palermo.

The deal is worth £5.5M and he will replace veteran keeper Alberto Fontana as the number one. He justified his reason to choose Palermo, to be able to play first team football regularly than be pushed to the sidelines.

Asked about his decision to snub top clubs in Europe, he said:

“When I chose to leave Livorno I didn’t think about the possibility of playing in the Champions League or the UEFA Cup, I just wanted an environment where I could improve day after day.”

This move will make Amelia stay in Serie A as Livorno has sunk into Serie B for the next season after being relegated. Although it is tough for any keeper to emerge out of the shadow of Gigi Buffon, Amelia has been Italy’s second man at goal for Euro 2008.

Although not a well-known figure out of Italy, he holds a very special record. Amelia is the first ever Italian goal keeper to score a goal in European Competition. The 26-year old headed in a late free kick during the ‘06-’07 UEFA Cup Group Stage match against FK Partizan Belgrade to achieve this feat.

The former AS Roma youth squad member has 166 appearance in his seven year stint with Livorno, excluding two seasons loan to Lecce and Parma respectively. The man from Frascati has 6 caps in the coveted Italian jersey.