Manchester City cruised to a 3-0 win over Manchester United at The Etihad on Sunday afternoon.
Phil Foden put the Citizens ahead, before Erling Haaland netted twice after the break to secure all three points for Pep Guardiola’s side.
The result moves City up to eighth in the Premier League table after four games, while the Red Devils languish in 14th place.
Guardiola made a bold call when selecting his team for the Manchester derby, opting to give Gianluigi Donnraumma a debut in goal, with James Trafford dropping to the bench.
Trafford had started all three of City’s three previous league games this term, but he was replaced by Donnarumma who joined from Paris Saint-Germain late in the transfer window.
Now, it has emerged that City initially had a different plan in relation to the Italian.
As per Fabrizio Romano, the Citizens were planning to make a move to sign the goalkeeper when his contract with PSG was set to expire next year.
Donnarumma kept a clean sheet on his Man City debut on Sunday (Photo: PA Images/Alamy)
The Italy international had fallen out of favour in the French capital following the arrival of Lucas Chevalier over the summer.
That alerted several clubs who were monitoring Donnarumma’s position, and Romano claims that City therefore moved to sign the player this summer in a bid to avoid missing out on him next year.
During a four-year stint with PSG, the 26-year-old kept 56 clean sheets in 161 games for the French side.
He was also instrumental in helping Luis Enrique’s side to win the Champions League, Ligue 1 title and French Cup last term.
Romano claims that City boss Guardiola was fully in agreement with the club’s move for Donnarumma, which came just weeks after the Manchester giants had re-signed Trafford from Burnley.