It seems that Gianluigi Donnarumma’s sudden availability has piqued the interest of one of the Manchester clubs: the wrong one…
Donnarumma is desperate for a new club after it was made abundantly clear to the Italy goalkeeper that his services are no longer needed at PSG.
First, the European champions signed his replacement, Lucas Chevalier, and in case Donnarumma had not quite got the message, he was left out of the squad for the UEFA Super Cup final before which Luis Enrique explained that he preferred ‘a different profile’ of goalkeeper.
Hailing Donnarumma as “one of the very best goalkeepers out there and an even better man” makes it no less bitter a pill to swallow for a Champions League winner who intended to stay in Paris if renewal terms were agreeable. No doubt Enzo Raiola used interest anticipated from the Premier League as leverage in those doomed negotiations.
Now Raiola and Donnarumma are left to gauge the level of genuine interest in signing one of the world’s top goalkeepers.
Reports suggest Manchester City are keenest of the clubs who could afford the salary Donnarumma, currently on £210,000 a week at PSG, would demand on top of a transfer fee in the region of £25million.
For City, though, such opportunism is unnecessary. For a few good reasons.
First, they have already signed a goalkeeper this summer. City took their chance to match Newcastle’s offer to Burnley for James Trafford and the England stopper was delighted to return to the club he left in 2023.
Now, Newcastle have been swerved by many players this summer and the allure of going back to his roots was strong. But ahead of a World Cup he intends to be a part of, would Trafford have returned just to sit on the bench when the No.1 shirt at Newcastle could have been his?
Trafford, almost certainly, will have been given the nod to say that he will be City’s first choice. If not immediately then soon enough. A lot sooner than he might hope if Donnarumma follows him though the Etihad door.
Did City need a new keeper at all? Ederson might not be the perfect goalkeeper – there isn’t one – but he has been perfect for City and the way Pep Guardiola insists upon dominating opponents.
After eight years between Pep’s posts, around his 32nd birthday on Sunday, there are sensible sketches of a succession plan for Ederson. It is thought that any advances from Galatasaray might be welcomed and whether it is this summer or next, there is no doubt change is coming.
The prospect of Donnarumma taking City’s gloves is bound to intrigue. But it would be a change too far.
Ederson and Donnarumma have featured on every list of the world’s best goalkeepers for last five years but that is one of the few things they might have in common. As keepers, they are very different.
Guardiola employs Ederson as a first line of attack more than a last line of defence. Which is fine when City have been as dominant as they have been since the Brazilian was brought from Benfica. The quality of his passing – the choice, variety and range – is just as important to Guardiola, perhaps more so, as the trustworthiness of his hands.
You could argue that very few keepers have the talent in their feet that Ederson possesses. But Donnarumma isn’t close enough to make a swap viable.
Donnarumma’s qualities lie in the more traditional aspects of goalkeeping. There are few better shot-stoppers in the world, because of the Italian’s size, speed, positional nous, and reactions. If you are looking for a keeper to guard your goal, Donnarumma is your man. If you’re minded to pick one to ping passes in possession, he is not. Which is a large part of why Luis Enrique ditched him.
For Guardiola, open-minded though he is, that is a non-negotiable. One his first acts as City boss was to bin Joe Hart and sign Claudio Bravo. A fantastic goalminder replaced by a playmaker in mitts. It set the tone for the next nine years under the Catalan.
The traits he looks for in a goalkeeper are a non-negotiable. And Donnarumma simply doesn’t possess the right mix. Trafford is a better fit.
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There is a club across Manchester, though, who would benefit from a goalkeeper of Donnarumma’s type…
United certainly need a new No.1. They appear tempted to kid themselves and persist with Andre Onana in their net while they throw resources at other priorities. Sure, their impotent forward line and the gaping hole in their midfield do command more urgency during this summer reset. But no one could watch United shamble through last season and pretend Onana is the reliable presence Ruben Amorim needs in his goal.
From the half-hearted interest they showed in Emiliano Martinez, it would appear that United acknowledge the problem. And Donnarumma offers a golden opportunity to fix it.
Of course Amorim wants a No.1 who can play with the ball at his feet but his goalkeeping priorities are weighted differently to Guardiola. If they are not, they really should be.
More than anything, Amorim wants a reliable last line, one who relishes the responsibility of digging United out of the holes they dig for themselves. Not a keeper like Onana who has spent his two seasons at Old Trafford reaching for shovels.
Onana was signed in part to improve United in possession. Maybe he is the Cameroonian Cruyff but he’s too busy fighting fires – and lighting his own – to pull strings.
Which highlights that, in their sticks, United need a top-class goalkeeper above all else. In Donnarumma, they have an opportunity to sign one.