Agent Enzo Raiola has claimed that Gianluigi Donnarumma is the best goalkeeper in the world and that AC Milan did not upgrade on him by signing Mike Maignan.
Donnarumma’s exit in the summer of 2021 left a sour taste in the mouths of many as he departed the club where he came through to academy to join Paris Saint-Germain and on a free transfer too, meaning Milan did not receive a fee.
Maignan arrived that summer from Lille to replace Donnarumma and he was named the goalkeeper of the season by Serie A in his first campaign with the club, which would of course end with a Scudetto win.
Raiola was a guest on the DAZN programme ‘Croquetas’ and he spoke about players whose interests he looks after. He started by explaining what happened with Donnarumma, and refuted the notion that Milan are now better for letting him go.
“The owners didn’t want to wait, they made a choice like we made ours. Maignan is doing very, very well and is also a starter in the French national team. A goalkeeper who has really done something as a first impression in Italy important,” he said (via Calciomercato.com).
“But today I wouldn’t say that there was an upgrade at Milan compared to Donnarumma… I don’t want to exaggerate but I think Gigio is not really comparable at the moment: he is the best goalkeeper in the world, all the goalkeeping coaches he has had say the same.
“For them, Gigio is a talent beyond any reach. When he was 17, Real Madrid wanted him, he saw the Los Blancos’ trophy room and said no for Milan.”
Raiola also spoke about Bennacer, who renewed his contract with Milan last year amid rumours of interest from various top European clubs. He has recently returning after a long injury lay-off due to a knee operation.
“We had the same recovery experience with Bonaventura, at an older age, Ismael was exceptional. We work a lot with young people, as do Donnarumma and Pellegrini from Lazio.
“The renewal with Milan was done a few months after we started working together. Bennacer could have already been interesting for the big clubs already in the last transfer market.”
Such a jerk
Let’s count how many howlers Gigio made last year and compare that to MM16’s. Gigio will win that competition easily. And let’s compare “performance per salary”-ratio too. Which team will get more “bang for the buck”? No competition there either.
And as a bonus question. Does PSG fans love him as much Milan fans love MM16? That says a lot too. 😀
He’s just buttering clubs up for the next money grabbing transfer. Remember, Raiola clients move every few years to generate agent fees and signing bonuses.
In terms of natural talent, yes, Donna might be better. But in terms of mentality, Mike is still ahead. Whether Donna can reach that kind of mentality, is still unknown. And sometimes mentality win the game. More than a talent could ever do.
Donna peaked very early. But he still can’t play with his feet – not a bigger talent than Maignan.
Donnarumma’s reflexes are still one of the best in the game, probably better than Mike. And also a better penalty saver. Mike is also a bit shorter too so that factors in. But Mike has better footwork and long range passing. If that’s able to compensate I’m not sure. I always rated Donnarumma, I just didn’t rate his agents or his off field issues
In modern football, footwork and passing is way more important for a keeper than reflexes.
15-20 years ago Donna would be rated very highly but right now, he is not even in the top tier. Mike is a superior keeper, he would have been chosen ahead of Donna by every single club.
There is a good reason he couldn’t find a top club even as a free agent. And even at PSG, he didn’t manage to outrank the aged, past-his-best Keylor Navas. Raiola’s comments are laughable.
I get people’s angst against Dollar and his agent but there’s perspective here. A keeper with good footwork is really only required if you play out the back alot. Sommer doesn’t have great footwork either but he works for Inter so much so that they have the best defence and he’s part of that. Its why they easily let Onana go and he probably has the best footwork in the business. Imo the footwork thing is overrated and I take save percentage easily over that as it’s the job of the keeper. it’s like rating a CB who scores on his defensive abilities even though he gets u goals. Neuer who to me is probably the best has great reflexes but lacks in footwork (he’s great at sweeping though…but that’s different). Mike isn’t even in top 10 or 15 for penalty save percentage and that can be important for matches that go the distance, so you do “lose” something. I don’t agree that Mike automatically chosen ahead by every single club or that Donnarumma is top tier. That sounds to me like.sour grapes. Mike is good, dollar is good too. Each have their own strengths
You have a good point on the type of football a team plays and the type of goalkeeping. Indeed, defending/reactive teams can benefit from someone like Donna. The issue is that such football is kind of outdated nowadays, virtually no top team plays like that.
And again – no top club took him despite being free agent at such age. So maybe it’s not just our bitterness 🙂
As I said, 15 years ago, Donna would be top. It’s the football evolution that makes his qualities less relevant.
Footwork overrated? Why don’t ask Allison and Courtois who help win decisive matches because of their ability to pass. How did that go for him in his first season against Madrid?
Ok Eddie I’ll ask you this. Which would u prefer a top 5 goalie in PK Saves or not even top 20 PK save goalie but good footwork in a cup competition? I’d take the PK saving goalie anyday. That’s his job and if it goes to a PK shootout that’s who I prefer. Footwork is just a bonus.
I’ve seen Courtois and Alisson get in trouble due to their “amazing footwork”. What’s your point? Onana as well and he’s one of the best. Funny u mentioned both Courtois and Alison, didn’t they both make the same “footwork” mistake when they played each other in the champions league??? 🤔😂😂😂😂
You can be decisive in different ways buddy. You could with footwork, you could with saves
Fair points below. With the way football is evolving …we might end up going straight back to reflex saves being looked at over footwork if coaches deem it to be dangerous. Or it may be basic skills from the new gen and we’d be looking back at how awful the non footwork GKs manage to make so much money 😂
A top coach once said he expects to see GKs being an additional midfielder
pffffttttt… Like he’s gonna come out and say that is client isn’t the best? GTFO.
Agents…. I swear.
Donnarumma has butter fingers lately and has been making many more mistakes. Also, he runs around and still has pretty poor positional sense. So no, overall Donnarumma is far from being at Mike’s level.
The fact Enzo feels compelled to make that statement to the press while discussing Bennacer is a troll move aimed straight at the rossoneri fans. Enzo is living off his brother’s name and other ppls talent. UEFA should focus on putting financial limits on agents rather than clubs. Maybe they play a larger role in degrading the quality of competitions more so than aggressive ownership? I’d love to see the curva roast this guy with their next tifo
yea of course & my dix bigger than your raiola
I can only laugh