Man City transfer news: Gianluigi Donnarumma ‘mistake’ warning sent after James Trafford howler and Ederson uncertainty

Gianluigi Donnarumma will be prone to making as many mistakes as fellow goalkeeper James Trafford should he join Manchester City this summer, Citizens expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has told Sports Mole.

The 26-year-old Italy international said Merci to the Parc des Princes faithful following Paris Saint-Germain’s 1-0 win over Angers in Ligue 1 last Friday after he was ostracised from Luis Enrique’s squad.

Donnarumma, who has entered the final 12 months of his contract, has been frozen out at PSG after failing to agree terms over a contract extension and Lucas Chevalier has since been signed from Lille as his replacement.

The Euro 2020-winning goalkeeper is now on the lookout for a new club and it is understood that he has agreed personal terms with Man City, who have identified the shot-stopper as a replacement for Galatasaray-linked Ederson.

Amidst uncertainty over Ederson’s future, summer signing James Trafford has started between the sticks in Man City’s opening two Premier League matches of the new season, and after keeping a clean sheet in a 4-0 opening win at Wolves, he endured an Etihad Stadium debut to forget against Tottenham Hotspur.

Indeed, the 22-year-old signing from Burnley was at fault for the second goal conceded in a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Spurs last weekend and he was far from convincing with the ball at his feet.

McInerney does not expect Pep Guardiola to lose faith in Trafford and believes that Donnarumma is likely to make similar errors should he join Man City before the September 1 deadline, considering that his distribution is not regarded as one of his greatest strengths.

Guardiola’s Trafford plans will not change despite “poor” Spurs performance

“It was a poor game for Trafford. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt there,” McInerney told Sports Mole. “He won't be the only young player who has a bit of a stinker. [Abdukodir] Khusanov had a terrible start and then got City's Player of the Month in his first [month at the club].

“There's many more examples more prescient than that, but I think Trafford just had a bit of a mare. Once again, I'll put it down to his age, being obviously a little bit nervous and probably the inexperience of the side around him too, which didn't always help him.

“If you'd had Rodri there playing in the centre (of midfield), I'm sure he'd have been telling him what to do. I'm sure with confidence to play in his own way, Trafford will be absolutely fine in time.

“He's young. He's going to make mistakes. It happens. I remember Ederson's first pre-season when he joined Manchester City. There were plenty of mistakes of a very similar nature. I know it's pre-season, but Ederson's made mistakes like [Trafford did] against Spurs as well. It just happens.

“I think there's an acceptance that when you've got a keeper who wants to play in a certain way and is learning the rhythms, it's going to happen, unfortunately. Does it mean he's not good enough? No. Does it mean somebody should pay attention to it? Yeah, of course. Will they work on it? Absolutely.

“Will it really change anything that Guardiola has planned? I don't think so. I don't think Guardiola is the kind of person to make an assumption based on one game that something's going to work or not work. I don't think it'll change the plans. “

McInerney believes that a move to Galatasaray for Ederson is likely to transpire this summer and while Donnarumma would be an astute signing by Man City, there are both ‘upsides’ and ‘downsides’ to his game.

“Potential downsides” and “massive upsides” for City signing Donnarumma

“I think Ederson clearly wants to go to Galatasaray and I think City are, according to reports, very close to Donnarumma and his camp,” said McInerney. “That'll be interesting because those mistakes that we saw with Trafford, they aren't any less likely with Donnarumma.

“Maybe Donnarumma will just smack it up the pitch and maybe that's the solution there with his experience. Donnarumma is a keeper of immense quality and I think Guardiola clearly wants him to come in.

“It'll signal a change, surely, for how we're going to play which will be interesting to see. But either way, I'm not going to sit here and moan about the idea of a top-class keeper coming in. I think there are potential downsides to Donnarumma joining, but there's also massive upsides.

“There's a sort of give-and-take element to it, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. Either way, we're going to have quality goalkeepers in Trafford and Donnarumma if he comes in.

“If not, if Ederson stays, I expect Ederson will end up being the number one for the rest of the season as well and he'll show the quality that he's got.”

Whoever establishes themselves as Man City’s No.1 will have big gloves to fill, should Ederson depart, as the “unique” Brazilian has played a major role in the club’s success over the last eight years as Guardiola’s ever-present first choice.

Widely regarded as one of the best ball-playing goalkeepers of his generation, Ederson has made a total of 372 appearances for the Citizens across all competitions and has won 18 trophies as well as three Premier League Golden Glove awards.

Man City will suffer “teething issues” in life after Ederson

“I think it's going to dawn on us as City fans actually, in hindsight, we might be sat here looking back thinking maybe Ederson was a bit better than we realised,” said McInerney. “I think a lot of City fans take Ederson for granted.

“He hasn't been perfect with his gloves, I can admit that, and there's been a few times where maybe he should have done better with shots on goal, which is a big thing for a keeper. But he's not horrific and he's at least decent.

“I think the way that we have to play is such a big ask for him. There's so much pressure on him and I think we're going to realise how hard that is to do in life after Ederson.

“He is an incredibly unique goalkeeper, more unique than maybe people even realise. I've never seen anyone with a ball at his feet that good and it changes Manchester City from having 10 men in the build-up to 11.

“He could have made that (Trafford) mistake (against Spurs), but he probably doesn't. Ederson probably picks out a pass to Rico Lewis who's free on the right instead, comfortably, because he knows what to do there. That is also experience admittedly. It's confidence but it's also experience, and I think that's going to be very hard to replace for City.

“The muscle memory of these players playing it back to the goalkeeper - Trafford and Donnarumma are going to find that difficult because Ederson is a lot more composed than anyone in the world in that situation.

“There's going to be teething issues, though, almost certainly in life after Ederson because when you change a player that pivotal to how you play, it's going to be difficult.”

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