Every word Donnarumma said on Man City move, PSG, Gattuso, Guardiola, Italy and World Cup | OneFootball

Italy captain Gianluigi Donnarumma addressed the media at a press conference from Coverciano on Wednesday, discussing his move to Manchester City, his rapport with Luis Enrique and his 2025-26 targets for club and country.

Football Italia was among the accredited media at the Azzurri training ground.

Donnarumma underwent medical tests with Manchester City on Monday, before signing his contract with the Premier League giants.

First Donnarumma press conference since Man City move

MUNICH, GERMANY – MAY 31: Gianluigi Donnarumma of Paris Saint-Germain celebrates after Desire Doue of Paris Saint-Germain (not pictured) scores his team’s second goal during the UEFA Champions League Final 2025 between Paris Saint-Germain and FC Internazionale Milano at Munich Football Arena on May 31, 2025 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)

The former Milan star has signed a five-year contract at the Etihad Stadium.

It was the first time he spoke to the media since completing his Manchester City transfer.

Italy will play Estonia and Israel in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

The game against Estonia will be played at home on September 5, while the match against Israel will be held on neutral ground in Hungary on September 8.

Football Italia attended Gattuso’s first training session as Italy coach on Monday. The Azzurri also trained on Tuesday, with the opening 15 minutes open to the media. Today’s training session, later in the afternoon, will be behind closed doors.

Below, everything Donnarumma said during his press conference at Coverciano today.

Donnarumma’s full press conference

MAN CITY MOVE – “I’ve always trained well and I couldn’t wait to join City because they really wanted me, the coach really wanted me, and that made me proud. To be wanted so strongly by the best club in the world makes me proud, but also very emotional and happy.”

RAPPORT WITH LUIS ENRIQUE – “I’ve always had an excellent relationship with the coach. He was direct with me from the very first days of training camp. Disappointed? I don’t know. Everyone makes their own choices. The coach has the power to decide, but having the support of everyone – especially my teammates – made me realise what I had given to PSG, and I think that’s the most important thing. Because beyond football, what remains is this: knowing the affection of the whole environment, of my teammates, made me proud of what I left behind.”

MUNICH, GERMANY – MAY 31: Gianluigi Donnarumma of Paris Saint-Germain kisses the UEFA Champions League trophy after his team’s victory, to secure Paris Saint-Germain’s first ever UEFA Champions League title in the club’s history and a record UEFA Champions League Final winning scoreline of 5-0, following the UEFA Champions League Final 2025 between Paris Saint-Germain and FC Internazionale Milano at Munich Football Arena on May 31, 2025 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

PSG SPELL AND REUNION WITH GATTUSO – “In my four years in Paris, I felt at home. I can only be happy about those years that I will never forget. I was lucky to have Gattuso as a coach at Milan. I know what kind of person he is and what he can bring. I’m happy to have found him again here. We will give everything we have to bring Italy back to the top. We need to be humble and united to build a group. I have no doubts about this because we have a strong, young team that wants to grow and excite, and I’m sure we’ll make a big step forward.”

SIGNING WITH MAN CITY – “I asked the president to sign here, because it had brought me luck before. I’m calm. As I said before, when you are wanted so strongly by a club like City it means you’ve worked well, and being wanted by one of the strongest coaches in the world like Guardiola is an indescribable emotion.

DISAPPOINTED BY PSG? – “I already said that everyone makes their own choices, so I’m not disappointed about anything. The coach was direct with me, and I appreciated that. Feeling the affection of my teammates, of everyone around, and of the stadium moved me a lot.

NOT GOING TO THE WORLD CUP? – “I don’t think about it…”

2024-25 THE BEST SEASON OF HIS CAREER? – “I think so, we won a lot, the four years in Paris were wonderful, with both disappointments and victories, but the last one was one of the best years of my career. I’m proud of it and I hope to achieve many more satisfactions. It’s part of the hard work, dreaming is beautiful, you wake up in the morning with so many new goals. The first goal is for the national team: we have two crucial matches ahead, and we need to work well and fight to prove that we are a solid, young, and hungry team. I’m sure we’ll show that.”

ARE ITALIANS GOING TO THE EPL BECAUSE SERIE A IS NO LONGER APPEALING? – “I follow Serie A a lot and it’s a strong league, which has grown a lot. Every player makes his choice, but I think when people say there’s no talent, it’s nonsense. I hear a lot of rubbish, but I can assure you the talent is there, the young players are strong, and the national team can grow a lot. With time, confidence will also increase, we’ll all become more aware, and I’m certain that the whole of Italy will do great work and we’ll achieve great satisfaction.”

LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 27: Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, acknowledges the fans after the team’s victory during the Emirates FA Cup Semi Final match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on April 27, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

WHY GUARDIOLA WANTED HIM AND MESSAGE TO SPALLETTI – “Every coach makes his own choices, I don’t know the reasons, but I’m proud to be coached by Guardiola, who has won so much and is one of the best in the world. I can improve so much with him and achieve big satisfactions. I greet coach Spalletti. Unfortunately, something didn’t work out, but that’s also our responsibility. There’s no doubt about that — we certainly should have done more. Those are decisions for the president and the Italian FA, but I’m happy to have built a relationship with Spalletti.”

BUILD-UP FROM THE BACK – “I always try to help the team and do what the coach asks of me. I do everything; you can always improve in everything, but regarding what the coach asks of me, I try to improve. I’m sure that with Guardiola we’ll do a great job.”

WHAT ITALY LACKED V. NORWAY – “I think the most important thing, which we lacked against Norway, is that we didn’t have the strength to react. You may concede a goal, that the stadium heats up, it’s normal, but we need to find that strength again, Italian strength, because we didn’t have it. We’re working on that with Gattuso, finding awareness, and he’s making us all feel important. The goal is to form a group, get back to enjoying ourselves, and play with more freedom. Without too much pressure — it should be there, but not too much, because then you’re missing something on the pitch. Now with Gattuso we’re finding that again, and I’m sure and convinced we can do well and get back where we deserve to be.”

TARGETS IN NEW SEASON – “The goal is always the same: to win as much as possible. It’s not easy, so you have to work hard. Everyone’s goal is to win as much as possible with City and with Italy, and to bring Italy back where it belongs. Everyone deserves that, the Italians who have gone through difficult times. This is our goal this year. We need to have the desire and awareness to achieve it.”

DID HE SPEAK WITH SINNE RECENTLY? – “I always talk to Sinner, we talk about everything except football and tennis, we try to have fun, joke around, and then of course, before matches we wish each other luck. He’s a guy like me, loves his family and privacy, and we connected right away.”

HOW HE SPENT THE SUMMER AND LUIS ENRIQUE TOLD HIM HE’D LEAVE – “I’ve always trained with the goalkeeper coach at PSG and did everything well. There was never an issue. I feel good, I couldn’t wait to come here, be with the team, start a new journey and play. I’m super happy about that. He [Luis Enrique] spoke to me during the pre-season.”

IMPROVING DISTRIBUTION – “Since I started playing at 16 until today, I’ve always done great things. Mistakes will always happen, but I believe I’ve achieved great things.”

SERIE A TITLE RACE – “In Serie A, there are many teams that can aim for the title. For me, it will be a very tough year. It’s hard to say a favourite, but I believe 4 or 5 will fight for the championship.”

PREVIEW ESTONIA GAME – “We need to start strong right away, show who we are, and have humility, prove our worth. We’re working on that, and the coach is preparing it in the best way. I already knew him, and I’m happy he’s here. I know what he can bring to the national team. It will certainly be complicated because European matches are never easy. All matches are tough and present their own challenges, but we need to step onto the pitch strong and confident that we can play a great game. I thank all the Italians who support us, I know it’s sold out in Bergamo, we’ll try to put on a great performance.”

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR – “I’ve recently become a father, and it hurts to see certain images and hear certain news. It’s a situation bigger than us. I don’t want to get into it; we want to play football. We want to bring back peace — it hurts to see these situations, but certain political things are bigger than us.”