Gianluigi Donnarumma may not have left AC Milan under the best circumstances, but the Rossoneri still played a big part in his career, and Luciano Spalletti praised the club for creating a ‘perfect captain’.
The hostility between Milan fans and Donnarumma is still everpresent, and this showed last season when ‘Dollarumma’ bills were thrown onto the San Siro pitch, proving that the relationship has still not been mended.
This was never the way that Milanisti had dreamt the relationship would go. After launching the goalkeeper to stardom, the youngster opted to leave the club for freeleaving a very sour, yet understandable, taste in the mouth of the fans.
Since then, the relationship has not changed, and the bitter feeling remains, even if it is one-sided. Nevertheless, the Italian No.1 has continued to grow, and after Italy’s 3-1 victory against France – where a few current AC Milan players were disappointed – Spalletti spoke of his gratitude to Milan for creating ‘a great guy and captain’. His words have been relayed by Milan News.
What qualities does Donnarumma have as captain?
“He’s a perfect captain because he’s had every possible experience, he’s been predestined since childhood. He has an imposing physique for the role he has and does and that becomes a very important quality. Having eyes on him immediately, feeling the responsibility and going to play at a club like AC Milan as a youngster formed him before any normal player and captain. Then he became a goalkeeper at international level, very strong.
“Sometimes I try to surprise him from the edge of the area, but when he opens his arms he covers the whole goal. Then he’s a great guy, a real captain. He’s the first to feel sorry when things don’t go as we would like and we hold on to him, both as a player and as captain.”