Paris is a chapter closed and Gianluigi Donnarumma has turned the page, joining Manchester City on transfer deadline day. He arrives as the first Italian player to work under Pep Guardiola, and in many ways the unlikeliest, chosen by a coach who once made the goalkeeper’s feet the foundation of his game.
Donnarumma was magnificent in many games for Paris Saint-Germain last season, and his numbers spoke of certainty and presence, numbers that for most would have guaranteed permanence. Instead, he was shown the door.
The goalkeeper was seminal to PSG's march to a first Uefa Champions League title. Six clean sheets in 15 matches, 36 saves in total, 28 of them from inside the box. PSG won an unprecedented four titles in 2024/25, narrowly missing out on a fifth when they lost to Chelsea in the Club World Cup final.
Many in Paris even lobbied Donnarumma, 26, for the Ballon d’Or, believing he made the biggest difference to the most successful season in PSG's history. But the French club had other ideas. Luis Enrique, with his usual calm, offered a parting tribute: “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 make these types of decisions.”
The next evolution of his PSG would pass from the splendour of Donnarumma’s hands, to the feet of Lucas Chevalier, entrusted with providing the creativity in possession.
Luis Enrique framed it as a necessity, but it was a cold decision.
Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti has long admired Donnarumma, but knows his limitations. Ancelotti and his son Davide exposed the biggest of those more ruthlessly than anyone. During a Champions League tie at the Bernabeu in March 2022, PSG were 1–0 up at half time and 2–0 ahead on aggregate. They were composed and seemingly in control. Then came the collapse. Pressed by Karim Benzema, Donnarumma stumbled with the ball at his feet, allowing the Real Madrid striker to score. PSG never recovered. Within 17 minutes Benzema had completed his hat-trick and Madrid had overturned the tie. Ancelotti later admitted it was no accident: pressing the goalkeeper was part of their strategy, because he knew full well Donnarumma’s weakness lay in his technique and composure under pressure.
PSG were livid. President Nasser Al-Khelaifi and sporting director Leonardo confronted the officials, branding Benzema’s opener “shameful” for not being disallowed. Mauricio Pochettino called it “a clear foul” and raged, “It’s unbelievable. It’s impossible to accept. Overall, we were the better team. It’s so disappointing.”
And yet that one mistake has followed Donnarumma ever since. Even the heroics that brought PSG their most decorated season could not quite erase it, the error still a stick for his critics to beat him with. For Andy Brassell, renowned European football writer and broadcaster, Donnarumma never made sense at PSG and he made many errors that were often forgotten because of his shot-stopping skills.
“He's pretty much as good as it gets and you know he turns up in big games consistently," Brassell told The National.
“In in terms of him as a goalkeeper for a Luis Enrique team though, he never really made a lot of sense because he's not super comfortable with the ball at his feet.”
“But,” Brassell continued, “The big Donnaruma moments make us forget the bigger picture.”
Nowhere was the criticism harsher than in Italy. Not long after Italy's Euro 2024 triumph, of which Donnarumma was a key player, the Azzurri were crushed 5–2 by Germany in the Uefa Nations League. Roberto Mancini had made nine changes from the side that drew with England, but it was Donnarumma’s mistake that stood out. Under pressure following a back pass from Alessandro Bastoni, he failed to clear, Serge Gnabry pounced, and Timo Werner tapped in to make it 5-0. It was the first time Italy had conceded five goals since 1957, and once again Donnarumma found himself cast in the eye of the storm.
The Italian faced the cameras afterwards, his composure thin and when the interviewer suggested it was “not the first time” he had struggled with back-passes and playing out from the back, he snapped.
“When did it happen before? When I was fouled against Real Madrid? If we want to stir up controversy over these things, then fine. I am here to speak for the team. If you want to blame me, fine, I’ll take the blame. I am the captain and I keep going with my head held high.”
The next day Corriere della Sera published a compilation video under the title: “Donnarumma: all his mistakes with his feet.” It dredged up many of his old errors including AC Milan’s 1-1 draw with Pescara in 2017, when he failed to control Gabriel Paletta’s back pass and the ball rolled humiliatingly into his own net. And his first Milan derby, a 3-0 victory, overshadowed by a miskicked clearance that left Eder tumbling in the box.
What they did not show was the balance. That for every error, Donnarumma has offered a catalogue of thrilling saves and interventions that has changed games as well as the outcomes, outweighing any perceived flaws. The story, as ever, is incomplete.
For Guardiola, with his creaking defensive foundations at Manchester City, Donnarumma is seen as the perfect choice. Nearly a decade after discarding Joe Hart for shortcomings with the ball at his feet, the most imitated coach of his generation now appears to be reshaping the very ideals that once defined him and the modern era. He has already turned away from false nines to embrace the archetypical number 9, Erling Haaland, tied to the club for the next decade, and now Guardiola has chosen a goalkeeper prized not for artistry in possession but for the raw authority of his shot-stopping.
So is he the right choice? Time will tell.
For Donnarumma, he continues to realise his dreams. “To be wanted so strongly by the best club in the world makes me proud, but also very emotional and happy.”
Italy's No 1 has come a long way from the day his uncle held his hand and led him onto the pitches of Castellammare di Stabia, a small town just outside of Naples. "I was only four but [my uncle] could see my talent already. I started playing football in the team's academy as a goalkeeper and I never left this position."
It was Sinisa Mihajlovic who handed him his Milan debut age 16, throwing him on against Sassuolo in October 2015. When Vincenzo Montella took charge in 2016, a single glance at the giant teenager was enough to convince him. “For me, Gigio has the potential to win the Ballon d’Or,” he told Milan’s TV channel.
Perhaps at City, Donnarumma will realise the ultimate dream that began on those small-town pitches by the Bay of Naples and be crowned the greatest.
