Tijjani Reijnders explains Manchester City’s eleventh-hour Gianluigi Donnarumma pursuit | OneFootball

Manchester City midfielder Tijjani Reijnders has heaped praise on fellow new signing Gianluigi Donnarumma after Sunday’s 3-0 win over Manchester United.

Donnarumma was handed his Manchester City and Premier League debut by Pep Guardiola against local rivals Manchester United – a fortnight on from the 26-year-old signing a five-year contract at the Etihad Stadium whilst with the Italy National Team in Florence, Italy.

An unfortunate parting of ways between the AC Milan graduate and Paris Saint-Germain – months on from Donnarumma leading the Ligue 1 giants to their premier UEFA Champions League title – saw Manchester City lure the goalkeeper to the Etihad Stadium in the final weeks of the window.

Having overhauled their goalkeeping department already in the recent window with the acquisitions of James Trafford and Marcus Bettinelli from Burnley and Chelsea respectively, Manchester City presented a lucrative contract offer to Donnarumma as club bosses and Guardiola felt was too good an opportunity to turn down in an inflated, volatile market.

Ederson’s deadline day move to Fenerbahce put the Donnarumma domino in motion and City rounded off a busy window with their seventh and most notable capture, with Donnarumma travelling to Manchester a week ago to greet his new teammates and manager.

The Italian was thrown straight into the mix by Guardiola and Donnarumma did not disappoint, setting the tone between the sticks for City’s dominant win over Manchester United and making an outstanding save to deny Bryan Mbuemo in the second half.

Donnarumma has made a strong case to retain his position in goal for Manchester City’s upcoming UEFA Champions League and Premier League games against Napoli and Arsenal this week, with uncertainties over where the Italian’s rise to stardom at the Etihad Stadium leaves Trafford, who started each of City’s opening trio of Premier League games.

However, it is worth keeping in mind that Guardiola has stressed that Trafford will get ample opportunities over the course of the season to stake his claim to be the starting goalkeeper, with the Manchester City manager refraining from naming a first-choice shotstopper this early into the season.

Speaking after Manchester City’s return to winning ways against Manchester United at the weekend, Tijjani Reijnders touched on the lift given to the first-team squad by the marquee addition of Donnarumma on deadline day.

“When you see him (Donnarumma) walking by, he’s just a giant. A great goalkeeper,” Reijnders said in conversation with Algemeen Dagblad, as quoted by Voetbal Primeur and relayed by Sport Witness.

Reijnders was quick to point to Donnarumma’s influence on Paris Saint-Germain’s UEFA Champions League winning squad last term, with the Italian producing match-winning performances in the knockout stages en route to the Parisiens’ 5-0 final drubbing of Inter Milan in May.

“I’m very happy he (Donnarumma) came (to Manchester City) because he won the Champions League last year for a reason,” Reijnders added.