Everton could have the best goalkeeper in world football if they sign Gianluigi Donnarumma from AC Milan with San Siro team-mate Asmir Begovic raving about a ‘phenomenal’ Italy international, in quotes reported by The Guardian.
It is not every day that one of the biggest clubs in European football place their faith on the shoulders of a 16-year-old shot-stopper. But it was painfully clear from day one that Donnarumma, with his giant frame and cat-like reflexes, was no ordinary 16-year-old.
At the age when most teenagers are fretting about their GCSEs, this Naples-born superkid was replacing the former Real Madrid number one Diego Lopez between the sticks at the San Siro.
And, five years from that historic debut, Donnarumma is pretty much the first name on Milan’s team-sheet with 190 first-team appearances under his belt.
Whether the 16-time Italy international reaches that magical figure of 200 games remains to be seen, however.
Concerns over his contract situation continue to rumble on with Everton, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, circling around a player who is due to become a free-agent in 12 months’ time.
Phenomenal
And Begovic, who has provided back-up for Donnarumma since moving to Milan on loan from Bournemouth, knows that his departure would be a major blow for the seven-time European champions.
“He can be anything he wants to be,” says the ex-Chelsea and Stoke City stopper. “He is one of the top goalkeepers in the world right now and if he keeps going like this it’s only a matter of time before he becomes unanimously the best.
“He is phenomenal, a huge talent and a good guy too, with a very good work rate. What he has already achieved in the game is quite remarkable really. I can only see good things in the future for him.”
Donnarumma is rumoured to cost a bargain fee of around £23 million.
And if Jordan Pickford makes another howler or two during the final few games of the 2019/20 campaign, Everton might just step up their pursuit of a man who is already one of the best goalkeepers in the world at the age of just 21.
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