Gianluigi Donnarumma has been a popular man this summer.
The Italian goalkeeper played a key role in Paris Saint-Germain winning the Champions League last season, and reaching the final of the Club World Cup. But there’s a chance that he might not be in Paris next season.
Donnarumma is in the final year of his PSG contract and his future is in doubt. A new deal doesn’t look on the cards at the moment, and it would make sense for Donnarumma to want to find a new challenge.
The question is, where should he play this season?
Dream: Chelsea
Chelsea were heavily linked with signing Donnarumma at the start of the summer transfer window. While the Blues have spent a lot of money bolstering their attack, their most-needed improvement is in goal.
Robert Sanchez performed well at the Club World Cup in the summer and certainly played his part in the Blues winning the competition. His performance in the final against PSG was one of his best for the club. But he does remain a liability at times.
Sanchez made five errors leading to goals in the Premier League last season, with no goalkeeper making more. He was busy in the Premier League last season, averaging 3.0 saves per 90 minutes with a save percentage of 73.64%. Those numbers are higher numbers than Donnarumma achieved in 2024-25 in Ligue 1, with the Italian averaging 2.2 saves per 90. While that will be down to the amount of shots taken, the 67.11% save percentage is on Donnarumma.
Donnarumma’s main strength for Chelsea, though, would be his passing. Sanchez has grown with the ball at his feet and has played some excellent passes. His long ball in the build up to Chelsea’s opener in the Club World Cup final was exquisite. But Donnarumma has better passing accuracy, completing 85.42% of his passes in 2024-25 — and 44.6% of his long passes.
The Italian is also slightly younger than Sanchez and is seen as a world-class goalkeeper. Whereas Sanchez is still seen as a decent goalkeeper who is capable of both good moments and errors.
Realistic: PSG
There are a lot of teams reportedly interested in Donnarumma at the moment. But there’s nothing concrete. He could just as easily remain at PSG. And that wouldn’t be a bad thing.
According to reports, the main reason Donnarumma hasn’t signed a new deal with PSG is down to his wage demands. He wants more than PSG are willing to give him. There is probably also a part of Donnarumma that feels he’s done all he can at PSG — finally adding the Champions League to his trophy cabinet.
But that doesn’t have to be the case. The challenge now is to retain the Champions League.
Donnarumma kept six clean sheets in his 15 Champions League games last season. Only one goalkeeper kept more in the competition. The Italian made 36 saves in total, with 28 coming from shots inside the box — the fourth-most in the Champions League.
Donnarumma did rank top for his 13 punched clearances, and prevented 1.77 goals.
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Wildcard: Galatasaray
Galatasaray have already tried to entice Ederson to RAMS Park. And there’s a chance that could still happen. But if it doesn’t, Donnarumma would be a good second option.
Now, Donnarumma isn’t going to play second fiddle to anyone. So it won’t be a case of Ederson AND Donnarumma.
Galatasaray are an interesting option, though. They’ve got a lot of money so can likely match the wages that Donnarumma wants. They’re the defending Turkish champions and built their title win off the best defence in the league. The Lions conceded just 31 goals in their 36 games, resulting in just one defeat.
Galatasaray have also already sealed their spot in the group stage of the Champions League, and look to be building a team capable of going far. With one of the best goalkeepers in the world between this sticks, who knows what could happen.
Squawka Suggests: Man Utd
Now, this would be a step down from the three teams above in terms of European participation. Well, there’s no European participation whatsoever. But they are a big club in need of a goalkeeper.
Andre Onana’s time as first-choice goalkeeper at Manchester United appears to be up. Ruben Amorim has lost faith in the Cameroonian shot-stopper, who was prone to a howler last season. Onana made three errors leading to goals last season, the fourth-most of any goalkeeper in the Premier League.
Given their desperation, Man Utd might be willing to pay the wages Donnarumma wants. And the Italian will have a chance to make himself a darling of Old Trafford very quickly. It’d be win-win for Donnarumma.