Gianluigi Donnarumma transfer rumors explained: Why PSG's star goalkeeper could be looking for a new club

Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was left out of the PSG squad travelling to Udine for the 2025 edition of the UEFA Super Cup against Tottenham taking place on Wednesday (as always you can catch the action on Paramount+). Donnarumma was one of the best, if not the best, players of the 2024-25 season when PSG won a treble, including their first ever UEFA Champions League, dismantling Inter 5-0 in Munich on May 31. Later, PSG lost the FIFA Club World Cup final against Chelsea on July 13, but despite the loss, the former AC Milan goalkeeper was widely considered as one of the reasons of the success of the team coached by Luis Enrique, thanks to his outstanding performances, especially in the knockout stages of their Champions League's run.

Today, Donnarumma is out of the PSG project with one year left in his contract which runs until the summer of 2026. So what happened in the last few weeks? Why are the European champions willing to let him go?

On Tuesday PSG published the list of the players traveling to Udine for the match against Spurs and Donnarumma was not included, an omission anticipated by multiple reports on Monday. PSG also signed former Lille goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier in recent days, making no space for the two players to co-exist. The signing immediately sounded like the end of the Donnarumma era at PSG, after the two parties didn't agree on a new deal, with the current one expiring in 2026.

PSG's statement announcing the signing of Chevalier was pretty clear on how they plan to count on him from the beginning of the new season.

"Comfortable on his line, in one-on-one situations, and in the air, he also has excellent distribution skills, qualities that have quickly established him as one of the best shot-stoppers in the league and one of the most promising players in his position in Europe. His progress was rewarded last May with the title of Ligue 1 Goalkeeper of the Year at the end of season UNFP Awards, as well as a nomination for the Lev Yashin Trophy - of which he is the youngest goalkeeper ever to be nominated - which recognises the best goalkeepers of the season around the globe."

The phrase "excellent distribution skills" from the PSG statement immediately caught the eyes of the public, as Donnarumma was widely criticized over the years on this matter, especially in his first years in France when he made some key mistakes including a notable one in 2022 against Real Madrid, when PSG lost to Real Madrid in the round of 16 during one of those incredible comebacks in their Champions League 2022 run. Despite some mistakes over the years, Donnarumma improved a lot and the 2024-25 season was one of the most successful in his career, making some key saves against Liverpool, Aston Villa and Arsenal that led his team to win their first Champions League trophy in the club's history.

Since last season started, there were many rumors about the future of Donnarumma, but the same player said multiple times he was ready to sign a new deal if they could find an agreement. It never happened. The player's agent, Enzo Raiola, is now looking for options and the English clubs are considered the frontrunners to sign the Italian goalkeeper, with PSG willing to let him go also to avoid the risk of losing him as a free agent in 2026, an option that Luis Enrique wants to avoid as he would be forced to have two starting goalkeepers fighting for one spot.

Donnarumma left AC Milan in 2021 as a free agent, when the Rossoneri directors also had issues with agreeing on a new contract with his former agent Mino Raiola and at the end they decided to let him go, replacing him with French goalkeeper Mike Mignan who won the Italian Serie A in his first season at the club. Donnarumma reportedly left AC Milan with a heavy heart, but the fans never accepted his decision to not sign a new deal. Four years later, Donnarumma is once again at the center of a contract dispute and with a future that needs to be solved in the shortest time possible, as he's now about to start a key season that will lead to the 2026 World Cup, where he's hoping to play his first ever World Cup, after missing out both 2018 and 2022 editions with the Azzurri.