AC Milan announced on Thursday that first choice goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma will not be renewing his contract. This marks the end of his stay at the San Siro. The Italian international is considered to be the heir to the Italian throne that Gianluigi Buffon reigns. Donnarumma broke through the ranks and shocked the world with his first team performances at 18 — his departure will surely be a blow for the Italian giants.
The reason for the failed contract negotiations is thought to be regarding the Release Clause set in the players contract.
AC Milan is said to have wanted a much higher release clause than that Donnarumma and his agent are willing to agree with.
What's next for Donnarumma?
As it currently stands, Donnarumma still has another 12 months left on his contract. It is highly unlikely he will play out his contract since AC Milan will not want to let him go as a free agent. They look to cash him in for some money while they still can.
As far as the player is concerned, he has attracted interest from some of the best clubs in the world. With a super agent in Mino Raiola managing his affairs, it looks more than likely that he will land himself a nice deal at another big team in Europe.
At the moment, it looks like Real Madrid is the most likely destination for the teen.
The Spanish and European champions are looking for a world class goalkeeper. That being said, Donnarumma is still very young and he is wanted by most teams around the world so it seems like he will have plenty of options.
AC Milan's next point of action
For AC Milan, the first thing that needs to be done is to manage the sale of Donnarumma.
Since it seems unlikely he will stay, letting his contract run out will cost the club money and as a result it is more than likely to see the Italian club working the transfer market to get him sold. While it is unlikely that AC Milan will get a large fee for him since Donnarumma only has one year left on his contract, the club will still look to get a fee in the $25.5 million range.
As far as getting a replacement is concerned, this is something that AC Milan need to sort out quickly since as it stands there is only a limited number of world class goalkeepers going around at the moment. Former Arsenal keeper and Polish international, Wojciech Szczesny, seems to be the front runner at the moment but there is still a lot of time left before the season begins and we can expect a lot of twist and turns in the road to determining AC Milan's number one goalkeeper next season.
