Renewal for influential star crucial but Milan must avoid cycle of repeat scenario

Gianluigi Donnarumma’s contract situation has become an important talking point again in recent months as Milan look to try and prolong his stay at the club.

In 2017, it appeared as though we were set to lose a fundamental piece of our future as then-CEO Marco Fassone held a press conference confirming that the shot-stopper wasn’t going to sign a contract renewal.

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Eventually, he was convinced to perform a U-turn on that decision and he committed his future to Milan until 2021, but now with just over 12 months remaining on that contract, we find ourselves in a familiar situation.

As noted by MilanNews, there is optimism ahead of a meeting between club officials and Donnarumma’s agent, Mino Raiola, as it’s suggested that both the club and player want to renew.

That said, much will depend on their ability to agree on personal terms which suit both parties as while the 21-year-old will want to be well-paid, Milan have a wage budget and structure to uphold which may need to be altered for key exceptions such as the Italian international, as per the report above.

Given his quality, potential and importance to Milan on and off the pitch, it’s hoped that ultimately Donnarumma commits his long-term future to the club and we can dismiss any concerns over a potential exit.

However, it’s imperative that this isn’t just a cycle that will throw up a repeat scenario in two or three years time again, and that essentially comes down to Milan’s ability to put the pieces in place to ensure we can compete and in turn hold on to our top players and not go through this process with others.

If Donnarumma isn’t already, he will no doubt be regarded among the top goalkeepers in Europe. While he’s still young and has time on his side, he’ll want to win major trophies and perform on the biggest stages sooner rather than later, and if Milan can’t provide that, it will just make it progressively harder to keep hold of him moving forward.

Ultimately, the Rossoneri have to kick on and compete at the top level, and that starts with qualification for the Champions League which is perhaps going to have to wait until next year now given the deficit we face as things stand in Serie A this season.

The report above suggests that Donnarumma wants to stay at Milan and so it’s hoped that an agreement is reached, but if we’re back in this same spot when his potential new deal is running down, the threat of losing him will become more and more difficult to deal with as we need to match his ambition and produce results on the pitch.

Milan have an important obstacle to overcome in the more immediate future, and that’s securing a deal to keep one of the faces of the club at San Siro this summer. Beyond that, it’s hoped that we don’t have to keep having this conversation every few years and be forced to deal with question marks over his future, and that will surely only come if we prove our ability to be in the mix for trophies again to ensure that both Donnarumma’s heart and head tell him that the right decision is to stay put.