Ronaldo is to blame for Donnarumma v Navas mess

Carlo Garganese
Carlo Garganese
  • Updated: 19 Sept 2021 19:01 BST
  • 4 min read
PSG prefer Navas to Donnarumma – how do they compare?
© ProShots

There is always a sideshow at PSG and this season is no different in that respect.

Indeed, in the current campaign, PSG are having to deal with not one sideshow but two.

Article continues under the video

Kylian Mbappe, of course, wants to quit the club to join Real Madrid and looks likely to see out the final year of his contract at PSG before moving to Spain on a free transfer.

However, there is another big problem brewing in the French capital. Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Donnarumma was signed on a Bosman this summer after his contract at Milan expired. However, since arriving in Paris, Donnarumma has played just one game. He is expected to play against Lyon on Sunday, though.

Keylor Navas has so far been PSG’s preferred goalkeeper, playing four of PSG’s five games.

Keylor Navas, PSG goalkeeper
© ProShots - Keylor Navas, PSG goalkeeper

This includes the club’s first Champions League game of the campaign on Wednesday, a 1-1 draw at Club Brugge.

Having two world-class goalkeepers battling for one position is never an ideal scenario, nor is the strategy of rotating two shot-stoppers.

It is a situation that Donnarumma cannot be satisfied with given that he was named as Euro 2020 Player of the Tournament just over two months ago after Italy’s triumph.

And it is a situation that Navas won’t be impressed by, either, given he only signed a new contract in April and has performed exceptionally in his two years in Paris.

FootballTransfers understands that Juventus planned to sign Donnarumma this summer and would have made him their undisputed number one. It is a transfer that Donnarumma also wanted to make.

Ronaldo stopped Juventus signing Donnarumma

However, the Bianconeri would only have been able to afford the 22-year-old by selling Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo’s salary of €60 million gross a season was a drain on Juve’s resources. The Old Lady required a €400m cash injection from parent company Exor at the end of last season due to their huge debts compounded by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Never miss the next big transfer!

Get the latest transfer insights and analyses directly in your mailbox.