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I have followed Gianluigi Donnarumma closely since the teenager with the oversized gloves took charge of Milan’s goal. He is 26 now, a Champions League winner with Paris Saint-Germain, and this week his future finally shifted from seasonal chatter to something concrete. PSG have left him out of their UEFA Super Cup squad to face Tottenham in Udine. That is not a tactical tweak. It is a message. When a first-choice goalkeeper is omitted on the eve of a showpiece, the club is preparing the market. Reuters spelled it out, and several outlets in France and the UK have echoed the same line. Donnarumma’s contract runs to next year, and PSG are ready to move on now that a successor has arrived.
The second shoe dropped three days earlier. PSG announced the signing of Lucas Chevalier from Lille on a five-year deal. ESPN and AP reported a fee structure in the region of €40 million plus significant bonuses, and the plan is simple. Chevalier becomes Luis Enrique’s new No. 1, which clears the runway for Donnarumma to find an exit this month rather than walk in 2026.
Rumor mills moved at their usual speed. Manchester United were first in most headlines. Chelsea was quickly added. Even Manchester City were mentioned as a conditional suitor if Ederson leaves. Those aren’t random names. All three clubs have goalkeeping decisions to make before the window shuts. ESPN grouped those strands together on Tuesday, citing RMC’s reporting on City’s interest and the Premier League preference on the player side
There is also a price whisper doing the rounds. Several reports suggest PSG would accept an offer in the £26–30 million range, a number shaped by the single year left on the deal and the fact they have already bought a replacement. I treat fee whispers cautiously, but when both ESPN’s gossip roundup and other aggregators land on the same figure, it is at least a useful reference point for the negotiation.
I will lay out what is firm, what is plausible, and what a buying club would be getting in 2025.
What is actually confirmed
| Item | Status | Why it matters |
| Omitted from PSG’s Super Cup squad vs Tottenham | Confirmed by Reuters and other outlets on Aug 12, 2025 | Signals active effort to facilitate an exit now, not in 2026. |
| Lucas Chevalier signed with Lille until 2030 | Confirmed by PSG, ESPN, and AP, the fee is around €40m with add-ons | Establishes the new No. 1 and removes sporting need to keep Donnarumma. |
| Contract horizon | Expires in 2026 | Contract leverage has swung toward PSG selling this summer. |
| Suitors linked | Manchester United, Chelsea. City if Ederson moves | Multiple reputable reports align on these names. |
| Valuation chatter | Reports of £26–30m being enough | Not club-official, but consistent across major rumor desks. |
How we got here
I read PSG’s decision as pragmatic rather than punitive. They have built a title-winning team that leans on control. Chevalier fits that picture. He was Ligue 1’s Goalkeeper of the Year last season, is calm with his feet, and profiles as a long-term solution. Reuters’ write-up of the signing used language that sounded almost succession-plan neat. Chevalier in, Donnarumma out, with the clock on the latter’s deal pressing the timing.
From the player’s side, this is not a fall from grace. He just helped PSG stitch together a historic campaign. If you watched their European run, you saw the shot-stopping return in big games. His 2024–25 numbers are solid in the league context. Public dashboards like FotMob and StatMuse put his save percentage roughly in the high-60s with four clean sheets from 24 Ligue 1 appearances, numbers that sit a touch above the division’s average once you control for game state and shot quality. FBref’s rolling year data has him around 68 percent on saves and right on the line for post-shot xG compared to goals allowed. You can win with that profile if the structure in front is coherent.
Where could he go, and why would it make sense
I keep three scenarios on the board, ordered by probability as of today.
| Destination | The pitch on fit | Obstacles |
| Manchester United | Fresh hierarchy, fresh plan, and a desire to push Andre Onana. United have chased an elite shot-stopper profile for Europe while keeping distribution standards high for the league. Donnarumma gives them immediate pedigree and age upside. | Wages and pecking order. A clean handover or true competition must be defined clearly, and the fee plus salary must fold under PSR. |
| Chelsea | A young spine that still wants more security in goal for big moments. The links make sense if the club wants a top-tier reflex profile behind a high line. | They have other priorities and a wage bill to manage. Also, Maresca’s build-up asks a lot of his goalkeeper. The staff must be convinced by Donnarumma’s distribution under pressure. |
| Manchester City | Conditional. If Ederson departs, City would need a keeper comfortable high outside the box with elite passing range. Donnarumma has improved with the ball. City’s structure would reduce shot volume and put a premium on the two or three saves that decide a title race. | Fit is not perfect. City usually recruits keepers who break lines as a matter of habit, and Ederson’s shoes are large. This path opens only if a chain reaction begins. |
If a Premier League move stalls, Inter have been floated at a lower volume in the Italian press and in US write-ups, but their budget reality usually caps ambition unless a sale lands first. Sports Illustrated listed Inter among clubs tracking the situation. (SI)
What the numbers actually say about the player right now
I am wary of stat-shopping with goalkeepers because context is everything. Still, a few indicators help.
| Indicator (2024–25) | Number | Context |
| Ligue 1 save percentage | ~67 percent | Right around the better third of Ligue 1 starters. (FotMob) |
| Ligue 1 clean sheets | 4 in 24 apps | PSG often led early, which tends to depress clean-sheet counts due to game state. (FotMob) |
| FBref last-365 save percentage | ~68.3 percent | Mirrors the league number, suggesting stability rather than a single hot run. ( |
Two research points to keep in mind. First, keeper performance is streaky across small samples. Save percentage stabilises slowly and is sensitive to shot quality, which is why post-shot expected goals can be a better signal for trend watching. Second, the best predictor for a top goalkeeper next season is usually being a top goalkeeper this season with a similar defensive structure in front. In other words, if you buy him, make the environment familiar enough that you are not asking him to become someone else overnight.
The money, the rules, and the timing
PSG is behaving like a club that wants the fee now rather than a goodbye next summer. With Chevalier through the door, they can negotiate from a position of squad stability. If the £26–30m range proves accurate, the amortisation math is friendly enough for interested English clubs to make room, and the salary is the bigger discussion. ESPN’s reporting framed that price point, while Yahoo’s roundup sat almost exactly on the same number in euros.
Timing is the other lever. Goalkeeper deals get harder the later you leave them. Managers want pre-season reps and early league matches to dial in build-out patterns. PSG have made that point forcibly by leaving him off the Super Cup sheet. The message is clear. Decide quickly.
What each party stands to gain or lose
| Party | Upside | Risk |
| Donnarumma | A starting shirt in a league he has long looked at, a fresh dressing room, and the chance to be judged on saves rather than the politics of a transition year in Paris. | Moving into a system that demands high-risk distribution without a long bedding-in period. Premier League noise is unforgiving if the first month is messy. |
| PSG | Bank a fee before the final contract year, hand the goal to Chevalier, and remove selection noise. | If Chevalier needs time, the optics of pushing out a Champions League-winning keeper could sting. |
| Buying club | An immediate tier-one shot-stopper at a price below peak-age market norms. | Salary structure shock, plus the need to align build-up patterns with his comfort zones. |
How I think this unfolds
If you strip the story to its bones, you have a club that has signed a successor and a first-choice who is a year from free agency. That almost always ends with a sale in the current window. The Premier League is the likeliest destination, and United have the cleanest path if they decide they need more security behind a high-risk defensive plan. Chelsea are a credible second path. City’s scenario is a fork that requires other dominoes.
One thing I keep in mind. Donnarumma has been at his best when the spotlight gets harsh rather than friendly. PSG’s run through last spring was full of high-stress, low-margin moments, and he held up. If you are buying him, you are paying for that temperament as much as the hands.
Ten quick questions clubs will ask in the room
- What is the true cash fee, and what are the appearance or trophy add-ons?
- Can he accept top-end starter money without smashing the wage structure?
- How comfortable is he 30 yards from goal under a pressing trigger?
- What is the plan for penalties and set-piece command, which have both drawn heavy scrutiny at times?
- How do we handle the media churn if the incumbent keeper stays?
- What does his injury history say about availability patterns?
- How quickly can he pick up our build-out calls?
- Who is the preferred goalkeeper coach, and does he need a familiar voice?
- Is there resale value at 29 if we need to reset in three years?
- Are we signing the Champions League version or the Ligue 1 version? Smart clubs ask that last one twice.
Timeline at a glance
| Date | Development |
| Aug 9, 2025 | PSG announces Lucas Chevalier on a five-year deal. |
| Aug 10, 2025 | Reuters reports Chevalier as a long-term successor with a fee of around €40m. |
| Aug 12, 2025 | PSG omit Donnarumma from the Super Cup squad vs Tottenham. |
| Aug 12, 2025 | ESPN links United, Chelsea, and City as active or conditional suitors. |
Bottom line
This is not a messy divorce. It is an orderly handover. PSG have signed the future and parked the present. Donnarumma is on the market at a fee that would have sounded absurd a year ago and now looks like value for a club that wants Champions League certainty in goal. If one of the English heavyweights decides their current plan needs a safer pair of hands, this is the window to act.