AC Milan’s 16-year-old goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma is excited to play against Italian number one Gianluigi Buffon when his side faces Juventus on Saturday.
Gianluigi Buffon is the world’s most expensive goalkeeper the 37 year old has been a legend in the Serie A for 20 years. He is the standard bearer for goalkeepers in the country and Donnarumma is looking forward to the prospect of playing against him.
“I hope to swap shirts with him on Saturday. Playing against Gigi gives me extra motivation,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport. (via Goal.com) “But I mainly want to win the game, maybe without conceding any goals.”
“I don’t feel pressure. San Siro is impressive, and you can feel it a bit there. There’ll be a great atmosphere at the stadium, but I’m not worried,”
Donnarumma also spoke about his admiration for Manuel Neuer and his love for the position he plays in.
“Neuer stops everything. It’s impossible not to admire him,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to do that, to be a goalkeeper. As a child I asked to stay in goal. Of course, I then hoped to win major trophies, but I’ve already realized my dream.”
The Milan Prodigy
Donnarumma was given his big break by Milan manager SiniA?a Mihajlovi this season and has showed some good skills to keep the experienced Diego Lopez out of the starting XI.
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The 16-year-old is highly regarded in Italy and is being hailed as the ‘new Buffon’ and numerous agents have said that he would be the first choice goalkeeper at a number of the good clubs in Europe, even at this tender age. He will come face to face with one of his idols when Milan plays Juventus this weekend.