- Skriniar dropped from squad without explanation
- Same treatment given to Donnarumma
- Defender joined Fenerbahce permanently in June
Slovakia defender Skriniar joined Fenerbahce from PSG on a six month loan in January, with his move made permanent in the summer transfer window at the request of former coach Jose Mourinho.
In an interview, Skriniar revealed that his departure from PSG came out of nowhere, as he suddenly found that coach Luis Enrique had left him out of the squad at the beginning of the 2024-25 season. The decision surprised him since he had been a regular starter for the first six months of the 2023-24 campaign before he suffered an injury in January of that season that kept him out until the end of March. He suggested his exit was similar to the way Donnarumma was pushed out before he joined Manchester City.
“When I first arrived, for the first six months, I played all the time,” he told Sky. “Gigio and I were the two players who played the most minutes. Then, in the first game in January, in the Super Cup, I injured my ankle. I was out for four months, and when I returned at the end of the season, the coach made this decision during summer prep [to leave him out]. It was a surprise to me because two weeks before, everything was different and everyone was talking about me differently. Then, from one day to the next, everything changed. But that’s football. We saw what happened with Gigio. He’s the best goalkeeper in the world and overall at the moment. He helped PSG win the Champions League, and we saw what happened. Both he and I have to look forward.”
Skriniar joined Inter in 2017 from Sampdoria. The Slovak defender won the Scudetto with Inter under Antonio Conte and reached the Champions League final under Simone Inzaghi’s before leaving as a free agent for PSG. He won Ligue 1 and reached the Champions League semi-finals with the French side before moving to Fenerbahce in January 2025.
After being knocked out of the Champions League in the qualifiers, which led to Mourinho being sacked, Skriniar will hope to help Fenerbahce defeat bitter rivals Galatasaray and reclaim the league title this season. Meanwhile, Donnarumma will hope to maintain the form that helped PSG win the Champions League last season as he gears up to get underway at City.
