Paolo Maldini confirms Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma reminds him of Gigi Buffon – “he has something that you see immediately”.
The former defender played against Buffon on his Serie A debut for Parma, with the then 17-year-old holding Maldini’s Milan to a 0-0 draw.
Donnarumma made his debut at an even younger age, 16, and the Rossoneri legend sees shades of the current Azzurri captain in his namesake.
Paolo Maldini confirms Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma reminds him of Gigi Buffon – “he has something that you see immediately”.
The former defender played against Buffon on his Serie A debut for Parma, with the then 17-year-old holding Maldini’s Milan to a 0-0 draw.
Donnarumma made his debut at an even younger age, 16, and the Rossoneri legend sees shades of the current Azzurri captain in his namesake.
“He’s talented, he’s gifted,” Maldini said when asked about Donnarumma on Grant Wahl’s Planet Futbol podcast.
“We’ve known since he was 12-13 because he was playing for the youth team and he has something that you see immediately if you know about football.
“I saw Buffon make his debut in Serie A against Milan, we drew 0-0 and he was incredible. I can see the same with Donnarumma, and he’s even bigger, but he’s fast.
“He’s a nice guy so that’s important because now they’re throwing numbers around him and you have to be a good guy to stay calm and think only about what you have to do on the field.
“When I see games I say 90 per cent of people who watch games with me don’t see ‘it’.
“I think you have to be a professional player to understand – and sometimes even if you are a professional player you don’t understand.
“So it’s very hard to explain, but there are some players where it takes one minute to see that they’re gifted.”