Scouting the Top Four Options to Replace Keylor Navas at Real Madrid

Gianluigi Donnarumma

Another intriguing long-shot possibility for a Navas’ replacement is AC Milan’s prodigy shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma. At the young age of 18, Donnarumma is considered to be the heir to Buffon’s throne as the keeper for the Italian national team, having made his international debut for the senior squad at a record-breaking 17 years of age.

The youth product is so impressive, that he was called “the future of Milan and of Italian football,” by no less than the man who he was benching at Milan, former Real Madrid goalkeeper Diego Lopez.  Game recognize game, I guess.

Our friends at Marca have reported that Donnarumma is on Madrid’s radar as one possible option of moves for Courtois or De Gea fail to go through this summer.

Strengths:

One of the primary advantages of signing Donnarumma would be his age. At just 18 years of age, Donnarumma is already considered one of the top goalkeeping prospects in the world. Already capable of benching Lopez at Milan, Donnarumma is likely only going to improve with experience. If Madrid wanted to sign a young keeper who, like Iker Casillas, they could build a team around for the next decade or more, Donnarumma would be a strong option.

In addition to his huge upside potential for improvement, Donnarumma is already building on a strong foundation of goalkeeping skills. He is tall, coming in at 6’5’’, and uses his large frame to physically intimidate opponents. Miles Olusina, in an excellent article from Outside the Boot, writes:

"With his huge stature come a plethora of advantages that he exploits to the fullest. For many strikers, seeing the towering figure of Donnarumma rushing towards them tends to put them in a state of apprehension and often leads to an inability to fashion an effective one-on-one opportunity when up against him between the posts."

Despite his massive size, Olusina argues, Donnarumma is still agile and quick-thinking, frequently coming out of his box to claim chances and rushing forward to deal with one-on-one situations with a calm and composure not usually seen by keepers so young.

Weaknesses:

Donnarumma’s greatest advantage is also his greatest disadvantage; signing a keeper at the age of 18 would be an enormous gamble for Real Madrid. While in theory it sounds nice to lock down a goalkeeping prospect who may come good for the better part of the next ten years, that also comes with considerable risk.

What if he is plagued by injury? What if he never develops further, or worse, even regresses? I would feel much more comfortable making this move 2 or 3 years from now, but it seems too early in the young shot-stopper’s career to pull the trigger at this point in time.

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It only took me a few minutes of watching highlights of Donnarumma’s saves to recognize one of his biggest weaknesses: he is not very good at catching the ball. He has an amazing set of reflexes, and is really good at punching crosses away, but seems utterly incapable of holding onto balls that he should have no problem being able to catch.

This creates an added danger for goals off of rebounds. As Olusina notes, Donnarumma displays similar tendencies to those of de Gea when he first came to Manchester United, but that this often is something keepers can improve on with time and experience, as de Gea himself has proven at United.

Another area of play that Donnarumma needs to improve is distributing the ball from the back and playing balls at his feet. As Sam Lopresti from Bleacher Report writes, “[Donnarumma] desperately needs to improve his distribution.  Too often he holds balls at his feet too long, allowing himself to be pressured into inaccurate heaves up the field.” Donnarumma is obviously impressive, but his game needs a few more years before he can be judged to truly be a goalkeeping great.

Desirability (1-10):

3 – While Real Madrid’s big gambles on young players have paid off in recent years (Casemiro and Carvajal come to mind), the goalkeeper is a place where Madrid needs immediate proven quality and instant stability rather than a long-term prospect that may end up paying off big time. Donnarumma is a fantastic player, but Madrid is not where he should go to develop his skills. If Madrid end up going for an older player like Lloris this summer, we should keep Donnarumma on the radar for a few years down the line.

Likelihood (1-10):

2 – I rate the probability of this transfer as very low. Real Madrid’s caboose may have gotten hitched to the Donnarumma hype train, but we should probably get off at the next station. I would recommend against mistaking wild speculations about the hot-new thing for actual transfer possibilities.

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If Donnarumma is going anywhere soon, it will likely be to Juventus, who have also been linked to the young keeper and have a habit of buying up the top talent in Serie A. That would also make sense as it would allow Donnarumma to serve as both a metaphorical and literal understudy to Buffon, the man he will likely be replacing at the helm of the Italian national team.