Manchester City have started the season with five straight wins, and goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma is not buying the idea this is a rebuilding year. Speaking to Sky Sports’ Sam Blitz, the Italian insisted the club’s objective remains simple: win everything.
A recent documentary about Guardiola featured City players looking down and disappointed after they dropped points at Bournemouth, handing the title to Arsenal. Among those showing such a reaction was Donnarumma, who had claimed the league championship in each of the five full seasons prior to last term.
He said “It’s difficult, but that’s football, that’s life,”. “There are other strong teams, especially in the Premier League.”
Donnarumma’s Derby Delight
The interview took place at Man City’s training ground, a few days after the Manchester Derby victory. Donnarumma was still glowing about the performance, even if he skipped over Erling Haaland’s controversial winner.
“I loved my team-mates’ performance, it was sublime,” he told Sky Sports. “The capacity to stay in the game and to react to difficult moments – no one can take that away from us.”
The manager was also bothered by the fact that Phil Foden had been harshly sent off earlier in the game, but the more significant issue was how the team reacted to adversity. With the club reduced to ten men and facing an uphill battle, City responded with grit and emerged victorious.
“We will give everything for this shirt, for this club that gives us so much and offers us so much great support,” Donnarumma continued. “It has a great history, and we need to give a lot back to it.”
The Word That Won’t Stick
The club let go of Pep Guardiola, Bernardo Silva, John Stones and Rodri during the summer, losing the heart of a period marked by success. A long spell of transition was widely anticipated for the team as a result.
Donnarumma disagrees. He does not like the word at all.
“I don’t really like the word ‘transition,'” he said. “The club’s objective is to win. This team’s objective is to win. We’ll certainly give everything we can to achieve that.”
The season came down to how the team approached it, according to him. There were two possible outcomes: they could finish with a trophy, or they could finish with none at all.
“But what’s important is having a winning mentality, going out there and trying to win everything we possibly can,” he said.
A New Leadership Group
The young goalkeeper now leads a new group that has taken over from Bernardo, Stones and Rodri. This quartet now occupies the highest position within the team’s hierarchy: Donnarumma, Ruben Dias, Haaland and Marc Guehi.
Each of the four shares a common quality — success with trophies at both City and outside it during their careers. Their role now is to set the pace for younger arrivals such as Ayyoub Bouaddi, Elliot Anderson and Ilimian Ndiaye as they find their feet with the squad.
“We’ve changed a few players. A few new ones have arrived,” Donnarumma said. “They’re all top players who are used to playing on the biggest stages, dealing with certain situations, and playing in the Premier League.
“It’s not easy at the beginning when you move to a new club, a new organisation, a new city. But they’re adapting well, and we’re making them feel comfortable.”
The Arsenal Warning
One team stands in the way of City’s ambitions: Arsenal. Mikel Arteta’s side have also started the season with five straight wins, and they have the added psychological boost of pipping City to the Premier League title last May.
Donnarumma noted the added pressure that comes with that recent history.
“It’s not that if you don’t win there isn’t disappointment – of course there is – but it can happen because there are other teams as well, just like in the Champions League,” he said. “It’s important to go into every game trying to win it.”
Four Games In
Donnarumma answered diplomatically when asked whether City and Arsenal would still be competing for the title by May.
“I don’t know. We’re only four games into the season,” he said.
The present aim is victory in every match, and that single-minded concentration is what defines his approach at this point in time.
“Our focus right now has to be on working and trying to win every game. That has to be our objective.”
City have two matches this week. They play Norwich City in the Carabao Cup third round on Thursday evening, with the whistle blowing at 8pm. The next day, they welcome Sunderland to their home ground for a Premier League fixture on Super Sunday. That one starts later in the afternoon, with coverage beginning at 1pm and the referee’s whistle at 2pm.
| Fixture | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Man City vs Norwich City | Thursday | 8pm |
| Man City vs Sunderland | Sunday | 2pm |
The Leadership Test
The significance of Donnarumma refusing to call this a transition year comes from his position within the team. He is not a player still trying to make a name for himself; he has watched the club lose important players.
His words gain added weight from the leadership group behind him. Ayyoub Bouaddi, Elliot Anderson and Ilimian Ndiaye are settling into a team that already knows what winning looks like. The quartet of Donnarumma, Dias, Haaland and Guehi is there to keep the standards high.
The rivalry between Arsenal and Manchester City has sharpened considerably this season. Arsenal began the campaign with a run of five consecutive victories, carrying over the momentum from last May’s title triumph. City have answered in kind, also collecting five wins of their own.
Donnarumma thinks City can keep this run going, though he acknowledges that the weight of the club’s past means falling short would hurt badly.
“We could reach the end of the season having won something, or having won nothing,” he said. “But what’s important is having a winning mentality.”
The training ground has spoken. The proof came in the Derby match, where the team showed it could bounce back after things went wrong. A leadership group is pushing for higher standards. The goal remains unchanged: win every competition.
Donnarumma isn’t treating this lengthy stretch as a time for rebuilding. Instead, he’s treating it as a chance to prepare for a title run. The international break is on its way, but he has no plans to rest.
“I think we’re going to have a great season,” he said.
See the video the story is built around at Skysports.
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