A host of Europe’s elite clubs are considering making a move for departing AC Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. The 22-year-old will leave the club at the end of his contract and has already been replaced by Mike Maignan, who Milan signed from Ligue 1 champions Lille.
Fabrizio Romano reports that Barcelona will make a decision on pursuing a deal in the coming days and that Donnarumma’s agent, Mino Raiola, is in direct contact with the boards at Barca as well as both Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus.
European Clubs Considering Gianluigi Donnarumma Move
Second Fiddle?
The first and obvious hitch with a move to Barcelona is the fact that their current first-choice stopper, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, is deemed untouchable in the goalkeeping hierarchy at the club. Despite his age, Donnarumma has been around first-team football for the best part of six years and is more than capable of being the leading keeper in an elite European team.
It’s highly unlikely that he would want to play second fiddle to ter Stegen at Barcelona and the club may end up regretting having two high-earning goalkeepers in the squad. With Sergio Aguero and Georginio Wijnaldum set to join the club, Barcelona need to think carefully about their finances before sanctioning this move too.
Other Options
The other two clubs Raiola is reported to be talking to would make much more sense for Donnarumma.
Firstly, PSG’s current number one is Keylor Navas. While he has enjoyed a renaissance of sorts with the French side since joining from Real Madrid in 2019, he is 34-years-old. While this is less of an issue for goalkeepers, with such a bright prospect available on a free transfer, PSG would be silly to not take the chance of bringing him in and dropping Navas down to second choice.
Moving to Juventus, though, would give Donnarumma the opportunity to stay in Italy and in Serie A, a league he will be well accustomed to having spent his entire career with AC Milan.
The Turin side currently possess Wojciech Szczesny as their number one. While less disposable than Navas would be at PSG, there’s no doubt that Donnarumma has the quality to be the first-choice goalkeeper at the club.
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