مدير عام كرة القدم
Paris Saint-Germain probably could have won the Champions League final without Gigi Donnarumma. But they certainly wouldn’t have made it to Munich without him.
Donnarumma was immense throughout the knockout rounds. He may have only picked up one Player of the Match award along the way – for his characteristically colossal contribution to PSG’s shootout success over Liverpool at Anfield – but, as his team-mates were always so quick to point out, Donnarumma was just as decisive in the ties against Aston Villa and Arsenal. Star playmaker Vitinha even called the Italian giant the team’s "MVP" after the crucial 1-0 at the Emirates.
It was, thus, strange to hear Donnarumma admit after the 5-0 rout of Inter at the Allianz Arena that he didn’t know if he would still be at PSG next season. "We’ll see in the next few days," he said.
Two months on, and Donnarumma’s future at Parc des Princes is even more uncertain than it was after the most monumental night in PSG’s history. So, why could Europe’s best team be about to part company with Europe’s best goalkeeper?
Paris Saint-Germain probably could have won the Champions League final without Gigi Donnarumma. But they certainly wouldn’t have made it to Munich without him.
Donnarumma was immense throughout the knockout rounds. He may have only picked up one Player of the Match award along the way – for his characteristically colossal contribution to PSG’s shootout success over Liverpool at Anfield – but, as his team-mates were always so quick to point out, Donnarumma was just as decisive in the ties against Aston Villa and Arsenal. Star playmaker Vitinha even called the Italian giant the team’s “MVP” after the crucial 1-0 at the Emirates.
It was, thus, strange to hear Donnarumma admit after the 5-0 rout of Inter at the Allianz Arena that he didn’t know if he would still be at PSG next season. “We’ll see in the next few days,” he said.
Two months on, and Donnarumma’s future at Parc des Princes is even more uncertain than it was after the most monumental night in PSG’s history. So, why could Europe’s best team be about to part company with Europe’s best goalkeeper?
It’s important to remember that PSG were hardly a model of consistency during their Champions League campaign. In fact, their triumph can essentially be divided into two acts of starkly contrasting quality.
Luis Enrique‘s men were on the verge of an embarrassingly early elimination after falling 2-0 down early in the second half of their must-win meeting with Manchester City at Parc des Princes in January – and it took a sensational comeback to turn the game, and their entire tournament, around.
In that sense, there was essentially a before-City and after-City split for PSG, and the Jekyll u0026amp; Hyde nature of their performances were arguably best personified by Donnarumma.
Just like PSG, he did not convince at all during the first few rounds of the league phase and, along with pretty much everyone else in Luis Enrique’s starting line-up, had a shocker in the 2-0 loss to Arsenal at the Emirates on October 1. Given the dreadful overall display, the coach was in no mood to single out Donnarumma for allowing Bukayo Saka’s free-kick from wide on the right wing drift past him and into the back of the net.
“Honestly, I’m not here to point fingers for the loss,” Luis Enrique told reporters. “If any one person is to blame, it’s me. The other team was better with their pressing and won more duels. You can’t win a match if you don’t win any duels. We deserved to lose.”
However, Donnarumma’s misjudgement only led to further debate over his status as PSG’s undisputed No.1.
There had already been murmurings during Luis Enrique’s first season in charge that the Spaniard was less than impressed with Donnarumma’s distribution skills and was already requesting a goalkeeper more comfortable with the ball at his feet.
He refused to admit as much publicly, of course. After one particularly calamitous week for Donnarumma featuring three mistakes in three games, Luis Enrique even took the blame for the Italy international getting himself sent off against Le Havre for a reckless foul outside the area.
“Gigio did what I asked of him. I ask the goalkeeper to cover [the final third], so if someone is responsible, it’s me,” the coach insisted. “Most of the time, it goes well. When it doesn’t go well, though, the problem lies with me.”
The suspicion remained, though, that Donnarumma, for all his brilliance in between the sticks, wasn’t the ideal fit for Luis Enrique’s footballing philosophy. Like so many modern coaches, the former Spain midfielder wants a goalkeeper who can not only stop shots, but start attacks – and while Donnarumma excels at the former, he sometimes struggles with the latter.
Consequently, talk of PSG making a move for the more sure-footed Lucas Chevalier, which started last year, never really died down, and the France international is now expected to complete a €40 million (£35m/$46m) transfer from Lille in the coming days.
The obvious question now, then, is whether Chevalier’s imminent arrival will result in Donnarumma’s immediate exit?
Donnarumma’s current contract expires next summer, but PSG have offered him an extension. The problem is that the terms of the new deal are not to the liking of either the player or his agent, Enzo Raiola.
They were expecting a renewal that rewarded Donnarumma for his key role in the historic Champions League win, but, according to calciomercato.com what they’ve been offered is a smaller guaranteed wage of €7m per annum and a potential €3m in performance-related bonuses, which, even if met, would only match the goalkeeper’s current net salary (€10m a year).
Donnarumma has repeatedly stated that his “priority” is to remain in Paris. He is settled in the city where his son was born and would happily sign a new contract – but, crucially, only if he gets what he feels he has earned – which La Repubblica claims is €12m a year.
However, Le Parisian says that PSG have effectively issued Donnarumma an ultimatum: either sign the contract on the table or find a new club.
Although the market is always unpredictable, it feels unlikely at this particular moment in time that Donnarumma will accept an offer that he deems less than what he’s worth. After all, it’s not as if he’s short on suitors – especially with PSG reportedly willing to let him go for €40m in order to avoid losing him for nothing next year and cover the cost of signing Chevalier.
At 26 years of age, Donnarumma has just issued a very timely reminder of his sensational shot-stopping skills, and the word is that both Manchester United and Manchester City are monitoring his situation closely (even in spite of the latter’s acquisition of James Trafford), while he’d undoubtedly represent a serious upgrade on Robert Sanchez for free-spending Chelsea.
It’s also common knowledge that a very ambitious Galatasaray are looking for a world-class goalkeeper, and then there’s the usual Saudi Arabian interest in such a high-profile player.
It’s also been suggested that PSG would be happy to have Donnarumma and Chevalier competing for a starting spot next season, and the Italian did find himself in a similar position with Keylor Navas when he first arrived at Parc des Princes. However, it’s difficult to imagine such a scenario appealing to Donnarumma leading into a World Cup year – particularly as Chevalier would clearly be the favourite to win this particular duel.
The 23-year-old’s mere recruitment is yet further evidence of PSG’s drive to insert as many talented young French players into their team as possible, and there’s no getting away from the fact that Chevalier is much better on the ball than Donnarumma. As well as keeping seven more clean sheets than the Italian in الدوري الفرنسي 1 last season (11-4) and boasting a better save percentage (71.65-66.22), Chevalier also completed far more long passes (158-62) and ‘launches’ (61-16), which are defined by Opta as ‘high balls into space or an area for players to chase or challenge for the ball’.
There’s every chance, then, that unless a compromise can be found, Donnarumma and PSG will part company this summer. His stock hasn’t been this high since the Euros four years ago, meaning he’d have little trouble convincing another top team to pay him what he wants, while PSG have already lined up a replacement for a player with less than 12 months left on his contract.
He may have been PSG’s MVP in last season’s Champions League, but Donnarumma’s departure now makes monetary and sporting sense.
