The Manchester City Donnarumma Doubters Have Missed Something Huge

For a goalkeeper who’d played an influential role in the club’s first-ever Champions League triumph, it was strange to see Gianluigi Donnarumma so easily discarded.

Soccer is a brutal game, but the sudden, drastic demotion of the Italian from Paris Saint-Germain’s lineup for the UEFA Super Cup clash against Tottenham Hotspur before he was sold to Manchester City was shockingly brutal.

Coach Luis Enrique isn’t a man who minces his words, so he was blunt when asked about the decision on social media.

“I am supported by my club and we are trying to find the best solution,” he told a news conference.

“It is a difficult decision. I only have praise for Donnarumma. He is one of the very best goalkeepers out there and an even better man.

“But we were looking for a different profile. It’s very difficult to take these types of decisions.”

The last line has really stuck, especially since it became clear that Manchester City was Donnarumma’s next destination.

Pep Guardiola, under whom the Italian will be playing this season, is known for brutally axing goalkeepers he didn’t feel fit his profile. The most notorious was Joe Hart, who was jettisoned many years ago for very similar reasons to Enrique.

So how can it be that the Catalan coach is turning once again to a so-called old-school keeper?

Well, the truth, as so often the case, is not quite that simple.

As Italian soccer expert James Horncastle pointed out in The Athletic, Enrique’s focus on needing a “different profile” is overblown.

Lucas Chevalier, his replacement, is not quite the ball-playing maestro he has been made out to be, and the crucial context of Donnarumma’s contract negotiations has been totally overlooked.

“His acquisition from Lille wasn’t placed in the context of [Donnarumma’s] protracted contract negotiation between PSG and the agent Enzo Raiola, which dragged on through the spring and into the Club World Cup,” he wrote.

“This was when the awkward possibility of Donnarumma seeing out the final year of his deal without signing a renewal emerged, along with the prospect of him leaving as a free agent in 2026.

“Greater emphasis was instead placed on Donnarumma’s apparent shortcomings with the ball at his feet, even though Chevalier, for instance, ranked inferior to his predecessor at the Parc des Princes in metrics such as percentage of accurate passes, pressured passes, long passes, and xG build-up in last season’s Ligue 1.

“As ungainly as the 6ft 5in (196cm) Donnarumma looks on the ball, he isn’t bad on it. The intrigue is whether he’s good enough in the way Guardiola normally wants. Social media and the punditocracy have decided he isn’t.

“If Donnarumma had joined Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid, maybe his distribution would have been less of an issue.

“For instance, under Carlo Ancelotti in the past and Diego Simeone in the present, the expectation on Thibaut Courtois and Jan Oblak was to be goalkeepers; that is, to keep goal, and the consensus, in the real world, is that keeping goal should always come first, playmaking second.

“In Guardiola’s time at City, however, the impression set in that keeping goal wasn’t enough.”

Speaking for the first time as a City player, the man himself had little doubt that the Catalan coach wanted him or that he wouldn’t be a good fit.

“I knew the coach was pushing for my arrival here,” he said.

“Everyone wanted me here, it gave me such pride to see such a demonstration of affection from there. I didn’t hesitate to come here with great joy and enthusiasm.”

“I was very clear. My desire was to come here, that was my first and only option. The only thing I wanted.

“I am not going to talk about the future. My only choice was to come here, the only one. I am happy to be here at City, happy to be a part of this fantastic team and family and give so much to these colours and badge. I hope to do it for many years to come.”

Yet he still had to defend his playing style in those discussions.

“There are moments you can force play and moments when it’s better to kick it long and avoid dangerous situations,” he added.

“There are moments when you have to play long and avoid dangerous situations, especially in special moments like a Champions League or a final. We have to be good at reading the situation. When we can play, we play. When we can’t play, we don’t play.”

Those doubting Donnarumma should heed the words of his PSG captain, Marquinhos, when asked to discuss his teammate’s departure: “Players come and go, but the history will always be here. Gigi is part of the history, and we are proud of him.

“What he pulled off last season was incredible. We owe him a lot. If he goes, a huge thanks to him.”