Why I am picking Gianluigi Donnarumma over Keylor Navas

PSG is on a verge of a major decision. This season their two goalkeepers, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Keylor Navas, more or less, equally shared their time on the pitch. That means, there was no stand-out no. 1 keeper. According to the club, that will change in the new season. Therefore, I am giving you my reasons, why I think the Italian should be preferred over the Costa Rican.

Let’s make no mistake. Both are top goalkeepers. Any club should be lucky to have them between the posts. They have both won major trophies. Keylor Navas is a 3-times consecutive Champions League winner. On the other hand, Gianluigi Donnarumma has won a European Championship with Italy last year, being chosen as the player of the tournament. So, they both have something to show for it.

In terms of things on the pitch, they both save shots average keepers can only dream of, they both improve each season, their (vocal and non-vocal) presence in the goal is enormous, they practically don’t have major injuries, they are among their countries’ key players and they both make you feel that their “performance peak” will never fade.

So, how do you draw a line between them? I think PSG’s coach Mauricio Pochettino was not able to do that. At least, he never publicly gave any real firm reasons why he opted for someone before specific matches. Therefore, he equally shared their playing time.

That caused a lot of uncertainty during the season. On and off the pitch. I am bold enough to say that this was also one of the reasons why PSG yet again failed to win the Champions League, which has become … not a goal … but more of an obsession in the past years. At least for the owners if not for the fans.

However, the club rightly spotted that the situation needs to be clearer. And it will be. In the summer, if not before. Here are some reasons I think it can prevail in Donnarumma’s favor:

Let me start with the most obvious one. Age. While Gianluigi Donnarumma is ‘only’ 23, Keylor Navas is 35. Quite a difference. The Italian has more season in front of him and can be the club’s permanent solution for much more years to come.

Second, contract length. Costa Rican’s contract expires in 2024, while Italian’s is two years longer. In the end, Keylor Navas would be 37, and could well be looking towards retirement. At least from the top division football (options in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South America … are always available later on).

Third, having a contract until 2026 also brings another dimension to the situation. The club will be spared a lot of time to negotiate a new deal with Donnarumma’s agent Mino Raiola. We know the latter, don’t we? Probably the most painful footballing agent any club must deal with. Having his all, more often than not, unrealistic demands for his clients, mostly regarding their team role and money, is every institution’s nightmare.

Fourth, Keylor Navas has been through it before. Remember when Thibaut Courtois joined Real Madrid in the summer of 2018/2019? The Belgian was brought in despite there was no actual need for a 35-year-old to be dropped. Therefore, Navas has already experienced how to be left out on a permanent basis and managed everything alright (moved to PSG later to be the primary choice again).

Finally, Donnaruma was brought in as a reinforcement. That means, that these kinds of players have to play a major role in a team. Eventually. For some time at least. Nobody wants to bring in big names that are just doing Monday to Friday preparations.

As you probably noticed, I specifically excluded personal statistics, such as win ratio, number of clean sheets, save percentage ratio … as they are completely not down to just a goalkeeper. He may face stronger opposition, his team may be sufficiently weakened by injuries, cards, etc., pitches and weather may be completely different during the season (it easier to play on a sunny Saturday afternoon than on a cold windy Monday evening on Stoke-on-Trent) …

All in all, whatever PSG decides to do, it will be a landmark. It will go down in the club’s history as one of the most important decisions of that time. If you think I missed any of the reasons, or you completely disagree, just let me know. In the meantime, enjoy waiting for a decision to be made …