Paris Saint-Germain's new goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma believes he needed to move away from Milan to grow as a player.
Donnarumma left Milan upon the expiration of his contract at the end of June, subsequently joining Ligue 1 giants PSG on a free transfer.
The 22-year-old – who made his Milan debut at the age of 16 in 2015 – is one of five star recruits PSG have made this transfer window, with Sergio Ramos, Achraf Hakimi, Georginio Wijnaldium and, of course, Lionel Messi also arriving at the Parc des Princes to bolster an already remarkable squad.
After making 30 Serie A appearances in 2015-16, Donnarumma missed just five league games for Milan over the past five campaigns, establishing himself as one of the world's best goalkeepers.
He only helped his reputation at Euro 2020, playing a starring role as Italy won the competition – indeed, Donnarumma made two saves in the penalty shoot-out victory over England in the final on July 11.
While he awaits his PSG debut having only just resumed training following an extended break, Donnarumma revealed his reasons for leaving Milan.
"I spent eight years at Milan, it was my home, I experienced wonderful moments there," he told Corriere dello Sport.
"Milan still excites me today, I have great respect for the people who work there and for the fans. But life is made up of choices, we had different ambitions.
"I will always be a fan of Milan. Eight years are not forgotten, but I needed to change to grow, to improve and become the strongest. I felt the need for new spaces, for a new reality."
Donnarumma also insisted the decision to leave the Rossoneri was his alone, with agent Mino Raiola having little influence.
"There are decisions that have a maturity. I have always made my career choices alone, my family has always left me free and supported me," Donnarumma continued.
"Mino did the same. He respects the wishes of his clients 100 per cent, then of course he does everything to satisfy their requests. I left Milan and I had no contact with other teams, I swear, but I was sure that with a good Euros, someone would show up."
With three of their new additions, along with star names such as Marco Verratti, Neymar, Angel Di Maria and Marquinhos, yet to feature, PSG have nevertheless made a winning start to their first full Ligue 1 campaign under Mauricio Pochettino, though they did lose the Trophee des Champions to Lille, who won the top flight last term.
Donnarumma, though, knows PSG's true goal comes in the form of European glory.
"Last season, the team did not win Ligue 1 but the real objective is different – the Champions League," he said.
Donnarumma's switch to Paris does raise some questions, as PSG already had a superb goalkeeper in the form of Keylor Navas.
Both played 45 games in all competitions for their clubs last term, though Navas conceded 36 goals, 14 fewer than Donnarumma's tally of 50.
Donnarumma did face more shots (561 compared to 503), yet Navas' save percentage was still noticeably better – the former Real Madrid shot-stopper keeping out 79.55 per cent of the attempts he faced, in contrast to a rate of 68.55 from his new team-mate.
Navas saved three penalties, with Donnarumma making one save from a spot-kick, while the Italy international also made two errors leading to goals – his Costa Rican counterpart, on the other hand, made none.
In terms of distribution, the players are similar, with Donnarumma tallying up more passes (1,310) though with a slightly lower accuracy (79.08 per cent compared to Navas' 80.23 from 1,123 attempts).
On the subject of competing with such a high-quality goalkeeper for the number one shirt, Donnarumma said: "It's an additional motivation, something that fascinates me."
Michael Beale hails performance of Jack Butland in Rangers win over Real Betis
Michael Beale praised the performance of Jack Butland as Rangers opened their Europa League group stage campaign with a 1-0 home win over Real Betis.
Abdallah Sima was the matchwinner with a second-half strike but Butland ensured the victory with a number of big saves, including two late on from substitute Rodri.
The former England goalkeeper arrived at Ibrox in the summer to succeed Allan McGregor and Beale felt Butland was already proving his worth.
The Rangers manager said: “Jack was taking over from a modern day legend at the club and there were a lot of eyes on him.
“But I’ve known about Jack for a number of years and all he’s had here is an opportunity to play and show his quality.
“It’s still very early in his Rangers career but we’re delighted with him.
“To get him as a free transfer, I think we’ve done very well.
“But it’s only the start of his Rangers career.”
Beale felt his players had been “outstanding” in the second half as they started to dominate the contest.
But he warned they would need to back it up in the league, starting with Sunday’s visit of Motherwell to Ibrox.
He added: “It was a big result and well done to the players.
“We had a couple of big moments in the first half, particularly with Rabbi (Matondo) going clean through.
“We did not settle until after 35 minutes and that is something that has been recurring. In the second half I thought we were outstanding and the goal typified that.
“For everybody else it is just a goal off a set-play but we win four first contacts before the goal. In tight games that is what we need to do more of.
“I knew it would be tough and I told the players that at half-time. I told them to step over the line, to commit to the game fully and not be a seven out of 10.
“In that changing room it is worth it but it is just three points and the focus is now Motherwell.
“We have had a couple of bangs on the head this season and we have heard it loud and clear from the outside.
“We have had two clean sheets since the international break and that is a real positive sign.
“But, nothing is done. It is just one performance.”
Roberto De Zerbi happy with Brighton players despite defeat to AEK Athens
Roberto De Zerbi congratulated his Brighton players in the dressing room for their performance despite losing 3-2 to AEK Athens on their European debut.
Despite dominating the ball and dictating the shape of the game in wet and difficult conditions at the Amex Stadium, Brighton were undone by an AEK side who made the best of what little they created and were clinical when their moments came.
First, the right-back Djibril Sidibe dashed into the box unmarked at a corner and flew into a superb diving header that nestled in the corner.
It was a lead they twice should have doubled when striker Levi Garcia went through on goal, first denied by goalkeeper Jason Steele then sliding the ball beyond the post as two glorious chances were wasted.
Brighton hit back through a penalty from Joao Pedro after a VAR check, the same means by which they levelled for a second time after the break. In between, Mijat Gacinovic had restored AEK’s lead, sliding in at a free-kick to finish from near the penalty spot.
Brighton were missing the injured Lewis Dunk in defence and his absence was felt again when substitute Ezequiel Ponce was given space on the counter-attack to win it for the Greek champions late on.
“We conceded three goals,” said De Zerbi. “Two goals in set pieces and one incredible goal, the third. We made some mistakes in the (final third) of the pitch, for example the chance of Joao Pedro in the second half, or the chance for Igor in the first half. But in terms of quality of play we played a very good game, I think.
“I’m really proud for the performance. I think we showed not the right experience, or maybe not the same experience as AEK Athens.
“But for the rest I think we played with personality and with the right attitude. We controlled the game, we dominated the game. And we are sad for the result.
“We are sad because we couldn’t make happy our fans, ourselves, our club. But we have to analyse the performance and the performance was good.
“We can learn. We have to learn. We can improve, but it’s difficult to accept this defeat. I congratulated the players 10 minutes ago, because I can’t be happy when we win at Old Trafford and sad today if the performances are both good performances.
“We have to know, and we knew before the game, that AEK had two situations where they could score; set-pieces and counter-attack. And when we’re defending set-pieces against this team, we have to be more focused, more with the right attitude, more smart to defend the set-pieces.”
De Zerbi confirmed that Dunk and striker Evan Ferguson had been ruled out of contention earlier on Thursday.
“Dunk couldn’t play because after the game with Man United he felt a problem,” he added. “This afternoon Evan had a temperature, he is ill.”
AEK manager Matias Almeyda reflected on a win which he hoped will help cement his team’s reputation as a serious European force this season.
“We work on the basis of playing a type of football based on team work,” he said. “I live my life the way I manage the team. I like to respect people and I like to be respected. We want to be respected in Europe and we wanted to get a result to gain that respect.
“We have been working together for over a year. We came here in order to play our usual game. The opposition on a number of occasions forced us to play a different kind of game. But it’s spirit of the team, a fighting spirit, and that’s what we have managed to achieve. To keep on fighting.”
Kudos for Mohammed Kudus as West Ham boss David Moyes reflects on comeback win
David Moyes gave the kudos to Mohammed Kudus after the Ghana winger helped West Ham come from behind to beat Europa League minnows TSC Backa Topola 3-1.
The Hammers made heavy weather of the opening match of their latest European adventure on a stormy night in Stratford, but headers from £38million summer signing Kudus and substitute Tomas Soucek got the Hammers off to a winning start.
East London was hit by torrential rain before kick-off with water cascading through the roof onto the concourses at London Stadium.
The floodgates failed to open on the pitch in the first half, however, despite West Ham being in the rare position of dominating possession on the soggy surface, and they fell behind after a mistake by Angelo Ogbonna.
“Tonight I thought we did enough to win although I didn’t think we were great in a lot of things we did,” said Moyes.
“The goal was probably our own doing but I didn’t fear the worst. It was a game where we had the lot of the ball and gave us a chance to see if we could do what teams have done to us lately.
“The mistake changed the game – but it also made us more determined.
“Kudus I thought started really brightly and came up with an important goal when I couldn’t really see where we would get one from.”
The Hammers had 78 per cent possession in the first half, which was the exact opposite of their stats during the recent smash-and-grab win at Brighton.
But Moyes got a taste of his own medicine when Ogbonna dawdled on the halfway line and Petar Sanic raced clear to give the Serbians a shock lead.
However the Hammers, whose last European outing was their triumphant Europa Conference League final win over Fiorentina in June, hit back in the 66th minute, albeit in fortunate fashion as Said Benrahma’s cross was turned in at the far post by TSC defender Nemanja Petrovic.
Kudus got his goal four minutes later and Soucek headed the third – with both coming from James Ward-Prowse corners – to finally ease West Ham nerves.
TSC coach Zarko Lazetic said: “We are disappointed and a little bit angry. We respect the other team, but we felt we definitely had an opportunity.
“Our tactic was to come and win and we feel sorry it didn’t happen.”
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