Gianluigi Donnarumma: Traitor, Misguided or Something Else?

Things had been looking good for AC Milan. As soon as the 2016/17 Serie A campaign concluded, they began working towards making rapid and wide-reaching changes, buoyed by the long-awaited completion of Li Yonghong's takeover.

The arrival of the Chinese businessman injected new life into fans of the Rossoneri, a group tired of the mediocrity they were forced to endure as Silvio Berlusconi's time at the helm drew to a close.

New sporting director Massimiliano Mirabelli wasted little time, quickly concluding deals for Mateo Musacchio, Ricardo Rodriguez, Andre Silva and Franck Kessie that filled needs in four different positions.

Yet, all that good work appeared to have no effect on goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, with the teenager revealing last week he had no intention of signing a new contract with the club.

Just as they had with their transfer business, Milan's new management team moved into action immediately, meeting with reporters moments after discussing the matter with the player's agent.

"I preferred rather than to release a statement, considering the focus on the so-called Donnarumma case, that I would update you immediately on the meeting I just had a few minutes ago with Mino Raiola," chief executive Marco Fassone said.

"Raiola informed us that Donnarumma has made a definitive decision not to renew the contract with Milan. It is a definitive decision, made by the player.

"The player evaluated it and made some evaluations that were not just economic, but also technical and professional, and he told us that he does not wish to renew the contract, so his time with Milan will therefore conclude by June 30, 2018.

"We were taken by surprise, as we had confidently hoped Donnarumma would be the goalkeeper taking Milan into the future that we could build the team around."

Given that he broke into the Milan first team at such a young age and was so beloved by their supporters, the impact of this announcement saw Donnarumma go from idol of the Curva Sud to hate figure almost instantly.

Various ex-players spoke critically of him, with Daniele Massaro among the most vocal. "I don't know whose fault this is, but the fact remains Donnarumma has taken the fans for a ride," the former Rossoneri striker told Mediaset Premium (h/t Football Italia).

That stemmed from the 18-year-old repeatedly committing himself to the club, with an interview he gave to La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t ESPN FC) in July 2016 now cited as a major source of anger.

Donnarumma said at the time:

"I'm really keen on renewing my contract and I'd be pleased to think that my relationship with Milan will be an enduring one. I am the kind of person who could easily imagine spending all of my career with the same club.

"Since I have always been a Rossoneri fan, I would also say that it would be a dream to wear the captain's armband. That would crown my journey. One thing at a time, though, obviously."

Clearly that will now not be the case, and members of the Milan Club Poland fans' group made their feelings clear during Italy's opening 2017 UEFA Under-21 Championship clash with Denmark in Krakow on Sunday.

There, they showered the player with fake bank notes and unfurled a banner calling him "Dollarumma," before going on to explain their actions to Radio Sport (h/t Football Italia).

"Waiting for another Milan game will take months, nor do we know if Donnarumma will play another game for Milan," group spokesman Roman Sidorowicz said.

"We left Warsaw with other lads and members for this protest. We felt hurt. He kissed our badge and said that Milan was the team of his heart, but then he didn't renew his contract. For all Milanisti, this is a serious offence."

That appears to be the case, and the announcement also sparked an intense bout of transfer speculation. Several outlets across Europe—including Calciomercato.com—concluded that Juventus, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid would be the most likely destinations.

Two of those quickly made their interest clear, with Madrid president Floretino Perez saying he would love to bring Donnarumma to the Santiago Bernabeu.

"Everyone says he's a great player, he's going to be the substitute for [Gianluigi] Buffon," Perez told Onda Cero (h/t FourFourTwo). "And he seems to have very good manners. Surely we are watching him. But we will not talk about what we are doing."

Asked if Juve could sign him, Bianconeri director Giuseppe Marotta told the Corriere della Sera (h/t Football Italia) that "it's clear that Juve have the right to examine every opportunity. When a player is on the market we have a duty to try."

For Milan, though, the pain of what Donnarumma has done just as the club appears to have turned a corner has yet to even begin subsiding. Questions over his temperament, the impact of Raiola upon his final decision and the real reasons for his refusal to commit his future to the club have all been discussed at length.

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"He represented what could have been the future of the club, the way that Paolo Maldini was, Franco Baresi before him and so on," Gino, a lifelong Milan fan, told Bleacher Report.

"Don't do interviews saying you want to stay in Milan if your intention is to leave. It's those very things that show he still has a lot of growing up to do and that the advice that he gets isn't in his best interest.

"The whole affair has been immature from several parties. Milan did well to not get involved in these mud-slinging matches with Raiola, who is only looking out for his client and his back pocket. Donnarumma had the world at his feet with Milan, fans that wanted him to stay, but it feels more than anything that it came down to a boy making a decision based on the advice of an unsavoury man."

Just why the talented young goalkeeper would make this decision is almost impossible to accurately explain, such are the contradictory statements issued by everyone connected to the situation.

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What we do know, though, is that when lucrative takeovers have happened in the past, Raiola has worked relentlessly to get his players involved. He took Mario Balotelli to Manchester City, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Blaise Matuidi are among a number of clients he ensured received lucrative deals from Paris Saint-Germain.

When it comes to Li Yonghong and Milan, however, the agent seems more hesitant. When scratching the surface, those concerns seem well-founded, too, with the deal to buy the club from Berlusconi rapidly altering after being delayed on numerous occasions over the last year.

It was eventually completed, but only after Li had taken out loans amounting to €320 million from U.S. private equity fund Elliott Management Corporation and Blue Skye.

The former specialises in bad debt and, according to Italian financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore (h/t Football Italia), if the repayments—which include 10 per cent tax—are not made, the American company can repossess the Chinese broker's assets.

As the situation surrounding Donnarumma worsened and both sides vented their feelings in public, Raiola hinted that all was not well behind the scenes. "I don't trust them and they don't trust me," the agent told La Gazzetta (h/t Marca). "Are Milan owned by Mr. Elliott or Mr. Li?"

He was not alone in doubting the validity of the new financial strength of the club either, with renowned Corriere della Sera writer Alberto Costa raising more than a few eyebrows.

"I'm not sure this new Milan have the resources to get back to winning," he told Italian television (h/t Ed Aarons of the Guardian). "There are debts to be covered and Milan will not make enough to cover them."

It appears to be a similar story with UEFA, with the European governing body rejecting the club's Financial Fair Play plan due to questions over its economic sustainability and the revenue it hopes to generate from merchandising.

"

How is it Milan can spend all this money and Roma always have to sell to hit FFP requirements? Something isn't making sense to me.

— Per L'ultima Volta (@JulianDM11) June 11, 2017"

"Milan presented the plan that is customary after a change of ownership, but UEFA asked for clarification, as evidently the paperwork was not enough," La Repubblica reporter Stefano Scacchi told TMW Radio (h/t Football Italia). "The two elements that UEFA concentrated on were the economic sustainability of the new owners and the over-estimated merchandising sales, which far outweigh even the biggest European clubs."

"This situation makes clear the critical issues with this Milan takeover, as we still don't entirely know the new owners," he continued. "Milan relied on figures that UEFA considered impossible. Evidently UEFA wanted them to err on the side of caution, but instead this report went completely over the top."

Indeed, UEFA are so worried about this that a source within the sport's governing body refused to discuss the Donnarumma matter on the record when asked for comment by Bleacher Report.

That might matter little to supporters burned by the decision the 18-year-old has taken, but in the long term it might well be something they look back on with immense regret.

For now, FFP appears to be of little concern despite the club losing more money than any of their Serie A rivals, per the above table from Swiss Ramble.

Are those issues so great that they could be an underlying reason why a boy who was playing for the club he professed to love chose instead to walk away?

Given Raiola's track record of moving his clients around, that is not a narrative many would choose to believe, but if Milan fail to qualify for the Champions League next term, then Donnarumma's reluctance to tie himself to this project might not look as misguided as it does right now.

Like the roulette wheel their colours resemble, the Rossoneri are gambling heavily on securing a top-four finish next term, but their young star appears unwilling to see if that pays off.

For now, the biggest question is just what the future holds for Gianluigi Buffon's heir apparent. Donnarumma has burned his bridges with Milan's passionate fanbase, with supporters who once saw him as "one of them" now wishing the saga would end so they can go back to enjoying the work of Mirabelli and manager Vincenzo Montella.