“To play without fear” – Gianluigi Donnarumma sends galvanising title race message to Manchester City squad | OneFootball

Manchester City and Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma has sent a rallying call to his teammates as they hunt Arsenal down in the Premier League title race.

The Blues have avoided defeat in their last seven games in all competitions and marked their fourth consecutive win with a 3-0 triumph over Fulham last weekend, with a rare midweek off for the Blues and Pep Guardiola handing three days off to his players.

Donnarumma has already made his name as one of Manchester City’s best-ever signings, having established himself as Guardiola’s first-choice goalkeeper since a deadline day summer switch to the Etihad Stadium from Paris Saint-Germain.

The 26-year-old produced a world-class, match-winning save to keep Liverpool at bay and deny Alexis Mac Allister in Manchester City’s thrilling, late comeback win at Anfield a few weeks ago, with the Blues completing a Premier League double over the reigning champions for the first time since 1937.

Manchester City revamped their goalkeeping department last summer, sanctioning exits for Scott Carson and Ederson, with Stefan Ortega Moreno also joining Nottingham Forest in January on a five month deal.

City are still competing on four fronts and it is the first time in English football history that two sides from the country will remain in the running for a historic quadruple heading into March, with Arsenal also eyeing a historic finish to the season.

In a recent appearance on Manchester City’s YouTube channel, Donnarumma sent a rallying call to his teammates as the Blues smell blood in the title race amid Arsenal’s struggles.

“The main thing for a keeper is to give everything for the team and not concede and there might be situations where your health might be at risk but you do everything for that net behind you, to prevent the ball from going in. For a goalkeeper the main thing is to play without fear,” the Italian said.

On how he would do as a Manchester City striker, Donnarumma added: “Good, haha! I can help out with corners and set pieces, I can definitely help out and I can manage the ball well.”

Donnarumma was further quizzed on his experience sharing a dressing room with Lionel Messi at PSG. “It was fantastic. He (Messi) is one of the best in the history of football. What surprised me was what an amazing person he is, aside from the footballer,” the goalkeeper added.

“He (Messi) is the best of all, truly fantastic person, very great man. Playing with him was very important, something I’ll cherish among the best memories of my life.”

Guardiola will no doubt be leaning on the likes of Donnarumma to galvanise his troops and spearhead Manchester City to a successful finish to their first season under the stewardship of director of football Hugo Viana.