Donnarumma deserves the chance to dominate for Manchester City

With Donnarumma possibly heading to England, Wayne Girard claims that joining Manchester City would be a deserved – and probably the best – move for the Italian goalkeeper.

Gianluigi Donnarumma is now 25 years old and is already entrenched as one of Italy’s best goalkeepers of all time. That’s saying quite a lot for a country that gave birth to Dino Zoff, Francesco Toldo, Enrico Albertosi and, of course, Gianluigi Buffon. Now, with speculation that he could join Manchester City to replace Ederson, Gigi has earned his chance to play for one of the greatest club sides in recent history.

He has been the backbone of Italy since he took over from his idol, with whom he shares the first name, who asked to be a full-fledged professional when he was still a teenager. He has now won Ligue 1 every season since joining Paris Saint-Germain, in addition to a host of individual awards and honours.

He felt he deserved so much more this summer. The goalkeeper who saved two spot-kicks to win Italy the previous Euros, who had three clean sheets in the group stage, saved a penalty to deny Spain in the semi-final and was then named UEFA Player of the Tournament (the first time for a keeper). What a disappointment EURO 2024 was.

Flashback to the Italian’s first season in Paris and PSG were eliminated by Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League. After leading by two goals, he allowed a Karim Benzema hat trick for Los Blancos to win 3-2 on aggregate. With the tension at its peak, he had a meltdown with Neymar, demanding that the pair be separated from their teammates. The media dramatized the event, hurting the psyche of the 21-year-old since then.

PSG were eliminated in the same round once more the following year. It’s a travesty when you consider the amount of cash ownership invested in the team and their true focus since being taken over by Qatar Sports Investments. Bayern Munich won both legs and went 3-0 on aggregate. PSG had a poor display overall and Eric Choupo-Moting had little difficulty getting past Donnarumma to quash any hopes of a comeback in the second leg.

Remember that just a few months ago, PSG looked destined to reach the final for the second time in four years after a “lucky” draw with Borussia Dortmund. Perhaps overconfidence played a part as they collapsed again, failing to score a single goal over the two legs. However, the worst moment of this past year’s tournament came not in the semi-final, but in the quarter-final against Barcelona. Donnarumma was voted worst on the pitch by respected French newspaper L’equipe, with a dismal rating of 3. He was criticized for a poor read on Yamine Lamal’s cross to allow Barca’s first goal, then gave the ball away in set up to allow Raphina to score and then failed to read the third goal from a corner kick.

Back to Euro 2024. As Guglielmo Vicario has grown so much over the last three seasons, many fans on social media felt that the Tottenham goalkeeper should get the nod over Gigio, given those PSG mistakes . However, when the Ligue 1 giants were rumored to have signed Matbey Safonov for the top spot a day before Italy’s Euro 2024 debut against Albania, Luciano Spalletti was the first to back him up, stating: “My opinion is that if Donnarumma is released from PSG, he will continue to find a stronger team.”

It wasn’t even the first time. A year ago, Spalletti defended him even after he was booed in Italy’s 2-1 win over Ukraine – which was played at the San Siro: “In terms of everything that is said and written about him, it is the nature the goalkeeper position that always gets a lot of blame… Furthermore, in his specific case, we cannot forgive him for being a leaping wonder, who has this talent, who has so many qualities.”

Donnarumma was eventually rewarded with the captain’s armband for the Azzurri and shone as the team’s north star during the last Euros. To be entrusted with this responsibility by one of the most respected and experienced managers in Italian football is yet another testament to the player’s worth. Spalletti’s men fell short in the last 16 and would have crashed out earlier had it not been for Gigio’s group stage heroics. The former Milan star has proven he can handle the pressure on the world stage and Manchester City would be wise to go all-in on him.

Donnarumma is a national treasure who is loved by his teammates and managers alike. He led his club and country to glory at such young ages. It would be a joy for him and every Italian football fan to see him play for one of the most dominant teams the sport has seen in some time. He won it.