General discomfort at PSG because of an interview?

PSG’s first recruit during the 2024 summer transfer window, Matvey Safonov gave a big interview last June to the Russian media Nobel which caused a stir, and in which he forcefully affirmed that he was coming to take Gianluigi Donnarumma’s place at PSG . And this interview caused uneasiness within the club…

Attracted from Krasnodar for €20M at the very beginning of market summer for €20M, Matthew Safonov (25 years old) arrived at the Parc des Princes with the status of a fairly experienced international player (13 caps). It nevertheless seemed quite clear that Safonov had been recruited by PSG with the aim of supporting Gianluigi Donnarumma after the departure of Keylor Navas. But for his part, the Russian goalkeeper displayed much stronger ambitions…

“I can’t be a replacement”

In an interview given in June to the Russian media Nobel, Safonov had announced in black and white that the PSG had not been clear about the role he would occupy as understudy of Donnarumma : « No one ever told me I was number two. I come to Paris to fight. I want to play football. Even if I had been told that I was number two, I would not have listened to them (…) If they put me as number two, it won’t be easy for number one… I will fight with him constantly. I have never lost a competition. I have always been the number one goalkeeper (…) I cannot be a substitute », Confided the Russian goalkeeper. And this interview has obviously created some problems at PSG.

An embarrassing interview for PSG

THE TEAMwhich devotes a large article in its columns of the day to the situation of the guards at PSGindicates that these declarations of Matthew Safonov caused internal discomfort within the club at the time they were published. The sports daily mentions “ whirlpool » to the club because of this interview with the Russian goalkeeper, without specifying whether Donnarumma whether or not he had had a hard time with these comments from his main competitor in PSG.