Chelsea and Manchester United are reportedly set to face defeat in their pursuit of Gianluigi Donnarumma, with the goalkeeper set to sign an extension with AC Milan.
According to a report from talkSPORT, AC Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma is set to snub a chance to sign for Chelsea or Manchester United this summer in favour of a new contract with the Serie A heavyweights.
One of the top goalkeepers in Italy and Europe, Donnarumma has grown leaps and bounds since making his first-team debut back in 2015 just aged 16. Despite being just 22 years old, he has already amassed close to 250 appearances for AC Milan and is a permanent fixture in the Italy national team as well, having been capped 25 times so far by the Azzurri.
However, Donnarumma’s future at the club has been a hot topic of speculation for a while now, given that the goalkeeper is in the final year of his contract with AC Milan. Indeed, the 22-year-old’s current deal runs out in a month and talks over a new one hadn’t been going as per plans, leading to interest from a host of top clubs across Europe, including Chelsea and Manchester United.
Chelsea strengthened their goalkeeping department with the signing of Edouard Mendy last summer while Kepa Arrizabalaga remains an option as well. While Mendy has largely done well in his debut season in England, there have been some errors every now and then.
As for Kepa, the Spaniard has done well in recent games, putting behind the horrors of the disappointing last season. However, there is the possibility that he could be allowed to leave at the end of the season, which would open up the space for a new goalkeeper, thus explaining the Blues’ interest in Donnarumma.
As for Manchester United, they too have two top quality goalkeepers in Dean Henderson and David de Gea. However, with the former overtaking the latter as the first-choice goalkeeper in recent weeks, de Gea has been linked heavily with an exit at the end of the season, with the likes of Real Madrid showing an interest.
In addition to the potential departure of de Gea, the Red Devils are also set to lose Sergio Romero and Lee Grant, meaning there could be a revamp of the whole goalkeeping department. This has seen Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side get linked with a move for former academy man Sam Johnstone, while there has been interest credited in Donnarumma as well.
However, Manchester United, as well as Chelsea, are now set to lose out on Donnarumma as the goalkeeper will be signing an extension with AC Milan, according to talkSPORT’s European transfer expert Chris Parrott. “He’s going to be Milan’s goalkeeper and a lot of people say that Mino Raiola’s clients do not always end up at the right club at the right time,” he said.
“For me, for all of the years he has been at Milan this is the one year where you would not want to leave. They are threatening to create something and will be back in the Champions League next season.” It seems like Chelsea and Manchester United will now have to look elsewhere to bolster their goalkeeping department in the summer.