After starting his youth career with local side Lodigiani,[citation needed] Salvatori joined the Milan youth system in 1985; after struggling to find space in the first team, he was initially sent on loan to lower division teams Virescit Boccaleone and Parma in order to gain experience and playing time;[2][4] with Virescit, he managed a third-place finish in the 1987–88 Serie C1/A, but the club lost out to Reggina in the Serie B play-offs.
[2][4] He returned to Milan for a second spell with the club, during which he won the 1989 European Super Cup over Barcelona under manager Arrigo Sacchi, appearing as a defender in the first leg, a 1–1 away draw.
Milan also reached the 1990 European Cup Final that season, and subsequently won the competition following a 1–0 victory over Benfica, but Salvatori did not feature in the squad for the final; he made one appearance in the competition, in the first leg of the quarter-finals, against Belgian side KV Mechelen, coming on as a substitute for Angelo Colombo, and was an unused substitute in first leg of the semi-finals against Bayern Munich.
[2][4] He also appeared as a substitute in the second leg of the Coppa Italia Final that year, which ended in a 1–0 home defeat to Juventus, who ultimately won the tournament on aggregate.
[7] After three seasons in Scotland, collecting a total of 84 appearances and 3 goals across all competitions, Salvatori returned to Italy in 1999, where he ended his career in the lower divisions with Alzano Virescit, AlbinoLeffe, and Legnano, retiring in 2002.