Péter Gulácsi (born 6 May 1990) is a Hungarian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bundesliga club RB Leipzig and the Hungary national team.

Club career

Liverpool

Liverpool signed Gulácsi from MTK Budapest on a one-year loan in 2007, with the player competing in the treble winning reserve team. Liverpool had an option to buy him at the end of this loan deal, which they exercised on the last day of the transfer window, 1 September 2008. Gulácsi was the third person to sign for Liverpool from MTK, with previous signings András Simon and Krisztián Németh.

On 29 July and 5 August 2010, he was the substitute goalkeeper in both of Liverpool's UEFA Europa League ties against Rabotnički, with Liverpool winning 2–0 on both occasions. He also found himself on the bench on 26 August in Liverpool's Europa League tie against Trabzonspor. He was a frequent presence on the subs bench in January 2011, with Brad Jones away at the AFC Asian Cup. With Jones still away at the Asian Cup, Gulácsi was the substitute keeper for their 1–0 Premier League win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Gulácsi retained his spot as back-up to Pepe Reina after Brad Jones returned from international duty, with the Aussie 'keeper going to Derby County on a loan transfer in March 2011.

In the 2009 January transfer window, he was loaned to Hereford United, where he made his league debut. He went on to make 18 league appearances for the club.

On 16 April 2010, Gulácsi joined Tranmere Rovers on an emergency seven-day loan deal and made his debut for the club on 17 April against Exeter City in a 3–1 win for Tranmere. His loan was subsequently extended for an additional seven days and into a third week.

He re-joined Rovers on a one-month emergency loan on 17 September 2010 after Tranmere's two experienced goalkeepers Gunnar Nielsen and Simon Miotto were ruled out with injuries His loan period was extended into a second month until 24 November 2010.

Hull City (loan)

On 19 July 2011, he signed a new contract with Liverpool and joined Championship team Hull City in a year-long loan move. He made his full debut for Hull in a start of the season clash against recently relegated Blackpool at the KC Stadium.

He received a knee injury in a 1–0 defeat at Burnley on 31 December 2011 and was substituted for Adriano Basso on the 42nd minute mark, shortly after conceding a goal, scored by Martin Paterson, as a result of a defensive mix-up with Jack Hobbs.  Following the injury, Gulácsi returned to Liverpool for a scan on his knee.

On 11 April 2012, Liverpool contacted Hull with a view to recalling Gulácsi from his loan subject to Premier League, Football League and FA approval. Liverpool were at that time suffering a goalkeeper crisis, with both Pepe Reina and Doni serving suspensions, leaving Brad Jones as their only remaining senior goalkeeper. He finished his time with Hull City with 15 appearances.

Return to Liverpool
The loan recall was approved and Gulácsi took his place on the bench for the FA Cup semi-final, which Liverpool won 2–1. He featured in all three of Liverpool's pre-season games in North America.

Red Bull Salzburg
On 7 June 2013, Red Bull Salzburg announced they had signed Gulácsi on a free transfer from Liverpool on a four-year deal. He played his first match in Salzburg's colours in the ÖFB-Cup, against Union St. Florian from the third division, at an eventual 9–0 away win.

On 20 July 2013, he made his debut in the Austrian Bundesliga against Wiener Neustadt at an eventual 5–1 away win.

RB Leipzig

On 1 July 2015, Gulácsi transferred to RB Leipzig, the sister club of Red Bull Salzburg, for a fee of 3 million pounds. He finished the 2015–16 season by making 15 appearances for the first team and two appearances in the Regionalliga Nordost for the reserve team.

On 17 December 2017, Gulácsi signed a new contract with RB Leipzig. His contract with the club would have expired in 2020 but he prolonged it by 2022. He finished the 2016–17 season with 34 appearances.

Gulácsi was selected as the best goalkeeper of the autumn part of the 2017–18 Bundesliga season by the German sport magazine Kicker. He finished the 2017–18 season with 47 appearances. According to leading German sports magazine kicker, Gulácsi performed best in the Bundesliga's 2018–19 season matchday ratings with an average score of 2.61 and 16 clean sheets.

In the 2019–20 season, Gulácsi made history by qualifying for the UEFA Champions League semi-finals, the first time ever for RB Leipzig.

Following the departure of Marcel Sabitzer, Gulácsi was appointed as the new club captain. On 7 May 2021, Gulácsi signed a contract extension with Leipzig, keeping him at the club until 2025.

On 23 May 2022, Gulácsi helped Leipzig claim their first piece of major silverware in club history in winning the DFB-Pokal. In the final against Freiburg, Gulácsi forced two misses in the penalty shoot-out.

On 5 October 2022, he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, in a 3–1 win against Celtic in the Champions League., which forced him to miss the rest of the season.

On 31 October 2023, he returned from his injury and played a whole match against VfL Wolfsburg in the 2023–24 DFB-Pokal. However, the match ended with a 1-0 defeat for Leipzig.

International career
In May 2008, Gulácsi received his first call up for Hungary and was an unused substitute in their 1–1 draw with Croatia.

Gulácsi was Hungary's hero against the Czech Republic in the FIFA U-20 World Cup in the penalty shootouts. In the third place match between Hungary and Costa Rica at 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup, he saved three penalties during penalty shoot-out leading his team to victory and bronze medals.

On 4 June 2012, he was invited by Sándor Egervári to the Hungary squad for a friendly match against the Republic of Ireland, but did not play.

Gulácsi made his debut for the senior team on 22 May 2014 in a 2–2 draw against Denmark.

He was selected for Hungary's Euro 2016 squad.

On 1 June 2021, Gulácsi was included in the final 26-man squad to represent Hungary at the rescheduled UEFA Euro 2020 tournament.

Outside football
In 2021, a post on Gulácsi's Facebook page caused a turmoil in Hungarian media. He expressed his wish to join the Family Is Family campaign in Hungary, a campaign that promotes acceptance of same-sex marriage and LGBT rights in Hungary. Former Hungary international player János Hrutka stood by Gulácsi. Subsequently, Hrutka was fired from the TV channel Spíler TV he was working for as a commentator.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours
Red Bull Salzburg
Austrian Bundesliga: 2013–14, 2014–15
Austrian Cup: 2013–14, 2014–15

RB Leipzig
DFB-Pokal: 2021–22 2022–23, runner up: 2020–21

Hungary U20
FIFA U-20 World Cup third place: 2009

Individual
kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2018–19
Hungarian Footballer of the Year (Golden Ball): 2018, 2019

References

External links

 Péter Gulácsi at the RB Leipzig website
 Péter Gulácsi at the Bundesliga website
 Péter Gulácsi profile at magyarfutball.hu
 
 
 
 LFC History profile
 

1990 births
Living people
Footballers from Budapest
Hungarian men's footballers
Hungary men's youth international footballers
Hungary men's under-21 international footballers
Hungary men's international footballers
Men's association football goalkeepers
MTK Budapest FC players
Liverpool F.C. players
Hereford United F.C. players
Tranmere Rovers F.C. players
Hull City A.F.C. players
FC Red Bull Salzburg players
RB Leipzig II players
RB Leipzig players
English Football League players
Austrian Football Bundesliga players
Regionalliga players
2. Bundesliga players
Bundesliga players
UEFA Euro 2016 players
UEFA Euro 2020 players
Hungarian expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in England
Expatriate men's footballers in Austria
Expatriate men's footballers in Germany
Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in England
Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Austria
Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Germany
굴라치 페테르(, 1990년 5월 6일 ~ )은 헝가리의 축구 선수로 현재 독일 분데스리가의 RB 라이프치히에서 골키퍼로 활약하고 있다.

선수 경력

클럽 
2007년 MTK 부다페스트에서 데뷔한 후 그 해부터 2008년까지 잉글랜드 프리미어리그의 리버풀 FC로 임대 이적을 떠났고 이후 완전 이적하였지만 출전 기회를 부여받지 못한 채 2009년 잉글랜드 3부 리그의 헤리퍼드 유나이티드로 임대 이적하여 리그 18경기를 소화했다.

그 후 같은 3부 리그의 트랜미어 로버스로 임대 이적한 뒤 2010-11 시즌까지 공식전 19경기에 출전했고 2010-11 시즌 을 마치고 2부 리그의 헐 시티로 이적 후 리그 15경기에 출전하는 등 꾸준히 경기에 기용되었다.

그리고 2012-13 시즌을 마치고 리버풀과의 계약을 끝낸 뒤 오스트리아 분데스리가의 명문팀인 레드불 잘츠부르크로 이적하여 2014-15 시즌까지 잘츠부르크의 주전 골키퍼로 공식전 100경기에 출전하면서 리그 2연패, 오스트리아컵 2연패에 공헌하며 마침내 데뷔 이후 처음으로 우승의 기쁨을 맛보았다.

이러한 활약에 힘입어 2015년 7월 1일 약 43억원의 이적료에 당시 독일 2부 리그 소속팀이자 잘츠부르크의 자매팀인 RB 라이프치히와 입단 계약을 체결한 후 현재까지 2015-16 시즌 2부 리그 준우승 및 차기 시즌 1부 리그 승격, 분데스리가 2016-17 준우승, 2017-18년 UEFA 유로파리그 8강, 분데스리가 2018-19 3위, 2018-19년 DFB-포칼 준우승, 분데스리가 2019-20 3위, 2019-20년 UEFA 챔피언스리그 4강, 분데스리가 2020-21 준우승, 2020-21년 DFB-포칼 준우승 등의 굵직한 성과를 거둔 것은 물론 독일 키커지에서 선정한 2018-19 분데스리가 올해의 팀, 2019년 헝가리 올해의 선수상에 선정되는 영예를 안았다.

국가대표팀 
2008년 5월 크로아티아와의 친선 경기를 앞두고 헝가리 A대표팀에 콜업되었으나 경기에는 나서지 못했고 이듬해 헝가리 U-20 대표팀 소속으로 2009년 FIFA U-20 월드컵 본선에 참가하여 비록 7경기에서 11골을 얻어맞았지만 체코와의 16강전 승부차기에서 상대팀의 6번의 PK 중 절반인 3번의 PK를 막아냈고 코스타리카와의 3·4위 결정전 승부차기에서는 4연속 PK 선방쇼를 펼치며 1954년 FIFA 월드컵 준우승 이후 헝가리 축구 역사상 FIFA 주관 대회 최고 성적에 기여했다.

이후 2012년 6월 4일 아일랜드와의 친선 경기 엔트리에 이름을 올렸으나 출전하지 못했고 그로부터 약 2년 후인 2014년 5월 22일 덴마크와의 친선 경기에서 드디어 국제 A매치 데뷔전을 치르게 되었다.

그리고 UEFA 유로 2016 본선을 앞둔 2016년 5월 31일 발표된 23인 최종 엔트리에 이름을 올렸고 비록 키라이 가보르의 그늘에 가려져 단 1경기도 출전하지 못했으나 1966년 FIFA 월드컵 8강 이후 50년만의 헝가리의 메이저 대회 토너먼트 진출에 큰 힘이 되어주었다.

그로부터 5년 후 코로나19 범유행으로 1년 연기된 UEFA 유로 2020 본선 엔트리에도 합류하여 이 대회에서 드디어 팀의 주전 골키퍼로 조별리그 3경기에 모두 선발 출전하며 포르투갈, 프랑스, 독일을 상대로 6점을 내주었지만 포르투갈에게만 0-3으로 완패를 당했을 뿐 나머지 2경기에서는 모두 눈부신 선방쇼로 팀의 무승부에 기여했다.

수상

클럽 
  레드불 잘츠부르크
 오스트리아 분데스리가 : 우승 (2013-14, 2014-15)
 오스트리아컵 : 우승 (2013-14, 2014-15)

  RB 라이프치히
 2. 분데스리가 : 준우승 (2015-16)
 독일 분데스리가 : 준우승 (2016-17, 2020-21), 3위 (2018-19, 2019-20)
 DFB-포칼 : 준우승 (2018-19, 2020-21)
 UEFA 챔피언스리그 : 4강 (2019-20)

국가대표팀 
  헝가리 U-20
 FIFA U-20 월드컵 : 3위 (2009)

개인 
 독일 키커지 선정 분데스리가 올해의 팀 : 2018-19
 헝가리 올해의 선수상 : 2019

살아있는 사람
1990년 출생
헝가리의 남자 축구 선수
헝가리 남자 축구 국가대표팀 선수
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UEFA 유로 2016 참가 선수
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리버풀 FC의 축구 선수
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UEFA 유로 2020 참가 선수
잉글랜드에 거주한 헝가리인
레기오날리가의 축구 선수