A host of big clubs, including Real Madrid and Galatasaray, are reportedly keeping a close eye on Gianluigi Donnarumma as post-verdict uncertainty swirls around the Etihad Stadium, according to new reports.
Gianluigi Donnarumma has been linked with a departure from the Etihad Stadium.
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Donnarumma has barely had time to settle into his new number one shirt at Manchester City, but the Italian’s name is already doing the rounds of the European rumour mill.
While there has been much debate over whether he or the now-departed James Trafford are a better fit for Enzo Maresca's style of play, these fresh rumours are not the result of anything Donnarumma has done on the pitch.
Rather, they are yet another tremor in the aftermath of the earth-shaking news announced by the Premier League on Tuesday.
The guilty verdict delivered by an independent commission has clubs across the continent wondering whether unlikely opportunities might arise to snap up otherwise unattainable players. Naturally, one of the first names on the list is the man some consider the game’s best active goalkeeper.
Gianluigi Donnarumma has dismissed suggestions that Manchester City are enduring a ‘transition’ season, insisting the club are determined to compete for every trophy on offer this term.cityxtra.co.uk"I Don't Like the Word Transition" - Donnarumma Backs Man City for Silverware Challenge This Season
Gianluigi Donnarumma has dismissed suggestions that Manchester City are enduring a ‘transition’ season, insisting the club are determined to compete for every trophy on offer this term.
Galatasaray Keeping Watch
As reported by Fotomaç and relayed by Turkish Football, Galatasaray are among the sides taking a keen interest in Donnarumma.
Turkish clubs have snapped up some huge names over the last few years, including Mohamed Salah, N'Golo Kante and Ederson, so the idea of a European Championship and Champions League-winning keeper moving to Istanbul in the prime of his career is not as unusual as it once would have seemed.
Galatasaray is also the current club of former Manchester City stars Ilkay Gundogan and Leroy Sane, plus a host of other eye-catching names including Rafael Leao and Victor Osimhen.
No formal negotiations have started to bring Donnarumma to the Süper Lig; this is a case of keeping options open should the Italian become available. Were Manchester City to be handed severe sanctions and nudged towards selling, the market would be flooded with talent that would normally sit well beyond reach, and he is just one example.
Interest From Madrid
Galatasaray are far from the only club who would be happy to hand Donnarumma their no. 1 shirt, and the report name-checks another suitor.
Real Madrid are allegedly considering the Italian as a long-term solution in goal, faced with the impossible task of replacing Thiabut Courtois as he edges toward his 35th birthday. With vast Champions League experience and still only 27, Donnarumma is an obvious candidate.
In truth, you would be hard pressed to find a club that wasn't tempted by the notion of signing Donnarumma.
While his distribution has been criticised at the Etihad Stadium, most notably after a terrible mistake in last season's 2-1 victory over Arsenal, he has also produced moments of magic that reinforce his status as one of the planet's best shot-stoppers. If he was to become available, the queue would form quickly.
City in No Rush to Sell
Of course, this is all irrelevant if Manchester City do not face sanctions that make them inclined to sell - and the picture at the club is rather calmer than the speculation might suggest.
The board has reportedly made no internal decisions on player sales, their energy directed instead towards the appeal lodged against the commission’s ruling and the sanctions hearing that is still to follow.
The goalkeeper himself only arrived in the summer of 2025 - a £26 million capture from Paris Saint-Germain, signed in somewhat surprising fashion to succeed Ederson - and nothing he has said or done hints that he is a man angling for the exit door.
The interest from abroad, at this stage, amounts to little more than preparation for a scenario that may never arrive.
Nonetheless, the fact that so many of Europe’s heavyweights are already circling says plenty, both about the calibre of goalkeeper he is and the cloud now hanging over the club. Whether anything concrete comes of it has less to do with Donnarumma and more to do with how harshly his employers are punished.