Former Juventus striker Fabrizio Ravenelli has chastised Serie A giants Juventus for allowing Gianluigi Donnrumma to slip through their net. According to Ravenelli, Juventus will regret not securing Donnarumma’s football transfer on two separate occasions.
Gianluigi Donnrumma is a highly-rated goalkeeper who has just helped Italy to Euro 2020 glory. And he has been on the move this summer after running down his contract at AC Milan.
Eventually, in breaking transfer news football, Paris Saint-Germain won the race for his signature recently.
Juve have always been keen on acquiring the talented 22-year-old. Indeed, they have previously missed signing him back in 2011-12, after they even invited him to a trial in Turin.
Then, when Juve first spotted his potential, the future superstar was representing local side Club Napoli.
And it wasn’t till 2013 that AC Milan eventually did likewise. In a football transfer that Juve should’ve secured, Milan took on the young goalkeeper, who would make his competitive debut for them at just 16 years of age.
Donnrumma would go on to take in 251 appearances for the Rossoneri, while earning 33 caps for his country.
Ravenelli Raves about Young Donnarumma
Fabrizio Ravenelli was part of Juventus’s youth team coaching staff when they first set eyes on Gianluigi Donnarumma in 2011.
And Ravenelli has told Tuttosport about some frustrating recruitment calls: “The biggest regret is that 10 years ago, with a small investment we could have beaten Milan to him.”
“I have the memory of a powerful, explosive, impressive little boy,” Ravanelli added.
He elaborated: “He blocked everything. So much so that none of our boys managed to score past Donnarumma from the edge of the area.
“We subjected him to a volley of shots around the penalty spot. But it was still almost impossible to score against him. It left everyone speechless. He was a different boy from the others.
“Now it’s easy to say, but at the time I communicated to the goalkeeper coach that this guy should be taken immediately because he would become an absolute top player.”
Juventus Will Regret Not Securing Donnarumma’s Football Transfer, says Ravenelli
Former striker Ravenelli was on the Bianconeri’s books when then-promising goalkeeper Donnarumma played the Turin giants a trial, in 2011-12.
And he now admits that Juventus will surely “regret” letting the ace goalkeeper pass them by.
“Too bad, Donnarumma would have been [Gianluigi] Buffon’s perfect heir,” he said, talking about the Juventus veteran who just retired.
“Now there is [Wojciech] Szczesny, who is another great goalkeeper and therefore I understand the choice of the club and [Massimiliano] Allegri,” he added, though.
