Gianluigi Donnarumma reflected upon his tough debut season with Paris Saint-Germain, his high profile error against Real Madrid and Italy’s failure to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar.
The 23-year-old Italian shot stopper has had a tough time of things following his controversial free transfer to the French giants last summer. He left Milan after a seven-year association and it’s fair to say that the Rossoneri faithful have not missed him this season due to the immediate impact of Mike Maignan.
Speaking to AFP, Donnarumma first discussed his future and desire to stay with PSG.
“I want to stay at PSG. I am happy with my first trophy in the Paris Saint-Germain shirt. I am very proud to belong to this club, which is very ambitious and always aiming higher. When I arrived, I didn’t feel the pressure from the European Championships, although it wasn’t easy to settle in.”
He touched on the difficulty of sharing the starting spot with former Real Madrid man Keylor Navas.
“It has not been an easy season, I know I can do more, I played half of the matches and I could not give my best, but I am convinced I can give much more to this team and this club.”
The Italian goalkeeper then commented on if he’ll share the starting spot again next season.
“No, I don’t think it will be like that. The club will make choices. I have a great relationship with Keylor, we are two good guys, we understand the situation, but it was difficult for him too.
“Let’s say we made it, with the help of the whole group and with the understanding between us.”
Donnarumma looked back at his high profile Champions League error against Real Madrid.
“I don’t feel guilty, not at all. We know what happened, the goal wasn’t a regular goal, but we could have handled the rest of the game better. But now we have to look ahead, the past is in the past, there’s nothing we can do to go back and play Champions League football again.
“Next year we will show everyone who we are. We have the means to win in Europe, but it must not become an obsession. Obsession would take us nowhere, we just have to keep calm, do what we know how to do, play football, work and the results will come.”
Finally, Donnarumma discussed Italy’s failure to qualify for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.
“It was hard, very hard to digest. They were difficult days, but as I said, there’s no going back.
“What we did at the European Championships will remain in history, we achieved an incredible result. But Italy must go to the World Cup, always, and unfortunately we didn’t manage to do that.”