Adriano Galliani, the whole truth about Gianluigi Donnarumma

“We snatched him from Inter when he was 14 years old.”

Today their paths are further apart than ever. One, Adriano Galliani, is the CEO of Monza, the ambitious club that has been the protagonist of a knockout summer buying campaign. The other, Gianluigi Donnarumma, is Italy’s starting goalkeeper as well as a fullback at PSG, a club to which he arrived on a zero-parameter basis after the controversial decision not to renew his contract with Milan. Yes, Milan. It is in the Rossoneri club the point of contact, and what contact, between the two.

It was the year 2013 when the Castellammare di Stabia native moved, at just 14 years old, to the Milanese club. But how the negotiations for his landing at Milanello went was explained by Galliani himself, then Ad of the rossoneri, from the stage of the Trento Sports Festival, where he spoke as a guest speaker.

“If he arrived at Milan, the credit goes to Mauro Bianchessi. One day he comes to my office saying that we had to get him, even though he was signing with Inter. In the end we managed to get him, he was 14 years old and at 16 he made his Serie A debut. Donnarumma gave us the last trophy of the Berlusconi era at Milan, saving the penalty for Dybala in the Italian Super Cup. Last year at the European Championship he was not the best goalkeeper, but the best player at the European Championship. Mistakes? Soccer has too short a memory, he remains the best player of the European,” Galliani concluded.