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Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has urged Ruben Amorim's side to sign 26-year-old Gianluigi Donnarumma from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). He believes that the goalkeeper would bring a sense of calmness to the defender, which would help them focus more on their game.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Rooney recalled how Manchester United defenders did better on the pitch after the club signed Edwin van der Sar to replace Roy Carroll and Tim Howard. He believes it is a similar situation at Old Trafford now, with the players not trusting Andre Onana and Altay Bayındır. He said (via SPORTbible)
“I go back to when we had Roy Carroll and Tim Howard in goal. I don’t think there was 100 per cent trust from the defenders in front of those two goalkeepers. But the minute [Edwin] Van der Sar came in and calmed everything down, the defenders trusted him a lot more and you see a better output of performance. And I think that’s where Manchester United are. They want that confidence and that trust in the goalkeeper behind them and tell them where to go."
"Sometimes it can be just having calmness and speaking at the right moments. Onana’s come in. He’s a fantastic keeper - I watched him at Inter Milan and he was brilliant so if they don’t bring in a new goalkeeper you hope he can get back to that. But he certainly didn’t fill us with confidence last season. I think with Donnaruma, he’s 26. He’s one of the best keepers in the world. It would be crazy if Manchester United didn't go for him."
Manchester United lost 1-0 to Arsenal in the opening match of their Premier League season. Bayındır believed William Saliba fouled him during the corner, but the referee and VAR did not rule in his favor, and the goal from Riccardo Calafiori stood.
Donnarumma has not agreed to a new deal at PSG, and Luis Enrique has already made the change to his team by signing Lucas Chevalier as the replacement. The former AC Milan star is free to leave this summer, and the Ligue 1 champions want £26 million to sell him.
Manchester United signing Gianluigi Donnarumma is not a risk, says Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney was quizzed by his co-host on whether signing Gianluigi Donnarumma for massive magies was a risk. The Manchester United legend quickly dismissed the suggestion, claiming that the PSG star has not made an error leading to a goal, which is needed at Old Trafford.
“I don’t think he’s a risk. I saw a stat the other day - the errors leading to direct goals. His was zero. Some of his other stats weren’t right at the top, but I think that’s important. When a goalkeeper makes a mistake, it’s difficult to recover, in that game and moving forward, so depending on what they can do salary wise, I would certainly be trying to bring him into the club.”
According to a report in GOAL, Donnarumma made £208,169 per week at PSG. Manchester City and Chelsea have also been linked with a move for the Italian goalkeeper.
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Sripad is a veteran Sportskeeda football journalist who has been with the company for around 10 years. His tryst with writing happened in class XI when he started penning blogs, and his foray into football was during the early 2000s, watching matches with his cousins.
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