Manchester City’s Gianluigi Donnarumma has had an impressive campaign, and removed some of the negativity around him.
The goalkeeper won the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain last season. Soon after, he was alienated from the PSG squad and will have been relieved when the Citizens came along.
Even before he joined the French giants, controversy had followed him at childhood club AC Milan. His refusal to sign a new contract and leave the Rossoneri for free had attracted criticism – and worse, from a lot of Milan fans.
His actions were seen as betrayal in Italy, where he still gets booed whenever he features at the San Siro.
Now, mental coach Nicoletta Romanazzi has revealed some of the Manchester City player’s struggles over the past few years.
Donnarumma struggles laid bare
Romanazzi has worked with multiple footballers at the highest level and she provided some details in a chat with Corriere della Sera.
When it comes to Donnarumma, she spoke about the Italian’s problems with dealing with a packed box. This was particularly an issue at Paris Saint-Germain.
She said – relayed by Calciomercato: “Gigio Donnarumma approached me at Paris Saint-Germain. With a team of champions always attacking, he struggled to maintain high concentration when the opponents managed to get into his penalty area.
“I helped him manage the pressure , because for the fans a goal is always the goalkeeper’s fault. And to maintain high concentration.”
Further, the mental coach also described Donnarumma’s ongoing problems rooted in the criticism from Milan supporters.
She said: “We also worked on the AC Milan fans, especially in view of the first match between PSG and AC Milan. He accepted that the fans felt betrayed, even if he hadn’t left the team with that intention and he too had suffered.”
Our take on Donnarumma’s rise
Romanazzi’s revelations make it clear the Manchester City player has come through quite a bit in the last few years. Particularly, the burden of having supposedly betrayed your childhood club isn’t easy to get over.
The Italy international is now much more mature as an individual. He has grown as a leader for club and country, with Pep Guardiola’s side seeing all of it from up close.
Donnarumma is probably a big reason why Manchester City are still in the title race. He has made some big saves over the past few months, keeping the team in games. The stopper has also managed to quieten criticism around his ball-playing ability, with Guardiola’s system helping him in that.
If the title returns to Manchester this season, Donnarumma will have a big role to play in that. He’s now proven himself in three countries, and whilst he won’t be able to convince everyone, some of the doubts around his ability have calmed.