Pranav Nair
Manchester United earmark Gianluigi Donnarumma to replace David de Gea
According to The Sun (h/t ESPN), Manchester United are eyeing AC Milan ace Gianluigi Donnarumma to replace Spanish custodian David de Gea in goal heading into the new season.
The 22-year-old is one of the best young goalkeepers in the world and despite his age, he is already a veteran of 251 games for the Italian giants. While Milan are keen to keep him, he has so far rejected multiple advances from the Italians regarding a new deal.
Milan have now accepted that he will be leaving and have agreed on a deal for Lille goalkeeper Mike Maignan to replace him.
It is not every day that a player of Donnarumma’s abilities becomes available on the market, let alone for free. The Italian could potentially be the solution to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s goalkeeping conundrum.
Despite there being no transfer fee, United will need to splash the cash in agent fee and wages to land him. Mino Raiola is not a man to trifle with and often gets his clients lucrative deals.
Milan’s offer worth €8m-a-year did not meet the demands of the superagent, who wanted at least €10m-a-year as well as a commission of around €20m. (h/t The Daily Mail)
The Norwegian has rotated between Dean Henderson and David de Gea this season but is keen to avoid it next time around. While the former has often shown his inexperience, De Gea’s best days may be behind him.
The Spaniard veteran did himself no favours with the performance against Villarreal and could find his position under assault. With Henderson also failing to cement a spot, it remains to be seen if United will make a serious attempt for Donnarumma.
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Both Henderson and De Gea are paid handsomely at United. Getting rid of one if not both of them should more than free up space for United to offer Donnarumma what Raiola is demanding.
Signing him could very well be a gamechanger for the Red Devils going forward. United will however have to face competition from Barcelona and Juventus.
