Transfer News: AC Milan desperate to keep Gianluigi Donnarumma amid Manchester United interest

AC Milan are doing everything that they can in order to keep goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, amid reported links with Manchester United.

AC Milan manager Vincenzo Montella, in an interview with Mediaset, has admitted that the club is desperate to keep Gianluigi Donnarumma at San Siro beyond the summer.

Montella has said that AC Milan are doing everything that they can to keep a player he “loves like a son” before putting the ball in his court to make the hard decision regarding his future. “The club are making enormous efforts to ensure his outstanding quality is recognised,” Montella said.

“I love him like a son, but now he needs to make a decision and realise what he wants to do as a grown-up. But he must do this with the utmost serenity because the club are doing all they can to keep hold of him.”

Donnarumma’s rise to prominence at AC Milan is well documented. Having rapidly progressed through the ranks at the Italian club, the teenager made his first-team debut at the nascent age of 16. Since then, he has established himself as an instrumental figure for Milan, with his performances holding key to the side’s fortunes.

2016/17 saw the Rossoneri fail to enter the top four and qualify for Champions League football for the next campaign.

But, Donnarumma was one of the shining lights for his side as he kept 12 clean sheets in 37 Italian top-flight games, conceding just 43 goals in the process. The goalkeeper has turned into one of the most highly-sought after players in Europe ahead of the opening of the transfer window in June.

The likes of Juventus, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City and Chelsea have all been previously linked with the shot stopper, but it is believed that Manchester United are leading the race to sign him in the summer.

The Premier League heavyweights have, in David De Gea, one of the best goalkeepers in the world. But, the Spain number one is being heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid, who are ready to go all out to clinch a deal for him in the summer transfer window.

With uncertainty surrounding De Gea’s future at Old Trafford, Jose Mourinho has identified Donnarumma as a possible replacement. At 18, the Italian prodigy has the potential to provide a reliable presence between the sticks for the Red Devils for the better part of the next decade – and, perhaps, even longer.

Any transfer to Old Trafford, though, depends on De Gea’s return to the Spanish capital in the summer. Milan, meanwhile, are ready to fight tooth and nail to retain Donnarumma’s services, even as interest continues to grow in him.

Donnarumma’s next contract will be his first as a professional footballer, and it remains to be seen if he pens that with Milan, Manchester United, or some other club.