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Gianluigi Donnarumma signed for Manchester City this week and there has been plenty of debate about whether he has what it takes to play in goal for Pep Guardiola.
Gianluigi Donnarumma's former goalkeeping coach has backed the Italian to slot seamlessly into a Pep Guardiola team and believes talk about his ability with his feet is overplayed.
City swooped to sign the 26-year-old for £26million after Luis Enrique axed him from the Paris St-Germain squad. The Spaniard reportedly decided to sign a goalkeeper who is better at contributing with his feet.
To some, that has made City's decision to move for Donnarumma a surprise. While his quality as a goalkeeper isn't in doubt and he was superb for PSG in their run to European glory last season, he is likely to face the same demands at the Etihad as he did at the Parc des Princes.
Donnarumma will replace Ederson at City, with the Brazilian leading the way in terms of goalkeepers who can contribute to the game with their passing ability, and the switch from one goalkeeper to another will be fascinating.
But Alfredo Magni, who was Donnarumma's goalkeeping coach for four years at AC Milan when he broke into the team as a 16-year-old, rubbished suggestions he couldn't adapt and insisted he was already good enough to do what a coach like Guardiola will ask of him.
“The thing that stuns me is that Gianluigi honestly is capable of playing from the back, and the fact that Pep Guardiola wants him just proves that, doesn’t it?” Magni told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Coaches want something more from their goalkeepers than just covering the goal. Many want them to actively participate in the game with positioning that supports the team.
“I can tell you that Donnarumma has what it takes to do that. In general, goalkeepers are asked to make the right choices and kick the ball well enough to keep possession. If it’s the speed of passing the ball, it is something you can work on at any age and improve.
“Part of it is working on strengthening the ankles and doing co-ordination exercises. A player who wants to improve, like Donnarumma, can quickly adapt his characteristics to the needs of the coach.
“It’s sad if Luis Enrique saw something in Chevalier that Donnarumma can do just as well. PSG and their coach could’ve easily worked with him without needing to get a new coach. Instead, PSG let potentially the best goalkeeper in the world just walk away. It is shocking that he is replaced by Chevalier, who is a decent goalkeeper.”
Magni believes Donnarumma can improve his feet not just through repetition work on the training ground but also through strength exercises, and he's confident he will prove he has what it takes to thrive at City.
“Let’s just say that over three months, with analytics, training, and without too much pressure, as well as those strength exercises on the ankles and kicking, he could do it easily,” he said.
“What we need to think about is that over half the goalkeepers in Serie A are foreign, so evidently there’s something in the Italian academies we don’t focus on that coaches are now looking for. We need to work on that.”
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