It is still unclear where Gianluigi Donnarumma will continue his career. The 22-year-old goalkeeper will be transfer-free in just over a month, as his contract with AC Milan is coming to an end. Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano assured in the night from Thursday to Friday that agent Mino Raiola discussed the situation of the Italian international with Barcelona in the evening. Juventus is also still interested.
Romano emphasizes at the same time that Marc-André ter Stegen will remain ‘one hundred percent certain’ as the first goalkeeper at Barcelona. “Indisputable”, emphasizes the Italian, who expects clarity soon. “The Barcelona administration will soon decide whether Donnarumma will be met or not. Juventus is also interested. ” It is expected that Neto will leave Barcelona in the summer. The Brazilian is not satisfied with his role in the first team, as Ronald Koeman is not in favor of a first keeper for the league and the Champions League and a first keeper for the Copa del Rey.
Partly for this reason, it is not obvious that Donnarumma feels a lot in favor of a transition to Barcelona. The Spanish top club is also doing everything it can to get its financial housekeeping in order. Donnarumma and Raiola were negotiating with Milan for months about a new improved contract. The 22-year-old goalkeeper earns six million euros a year and could look forward to a salary increase of two million euros when he renewed his contract. Raiola, however, demanded twelve million euros a year for Donnarumma.
AC Milan refused to go along and Barcelona no longer seems financially able to offer such salaries, even though no transfer fee has to be paid. The Catalans are betting on transfer-free footballers such as Georginio Wijnaldum, Memphis Depay, Sergio Agüero and Eric García, although the club has not yet made any official announcements about this. Spanish media assume that any of the four can expect ‘at most’ an annual salary of four to five million euros.
With Mike Maignan, Milan already has Donnarumma’s successor. Maignan passed a medical examination this week, after which he signed a five-year contract. Milan has paid Lille OSC thirteen million euros, an amount that can rise to fifteen million euros through bonuses. It means a big win for the brand new champion of France, as only one million euros was paid in the summer of 2015 to take over Maignan from Paris Saint-Germain.
Donnarumma ended up in Milan’s youth academy in 2013 as a fourteen-year-old goalkeeper. Two years later he made his debut in the main force. In 2016, he broke the record with the Italy Under-21 by making his debut as the youngest goalkeeper ever. Donnarumma was 17 years and 28 days old at the time. Six months later, he made his debut for the Italian national team, where he also became the youngest goalie ever at 17 years and 189 days. In total, Donnarumma wore the shirt of Milan for 251 matches.