With Milan’s Future Uncertain, Could Donnarumma move to Roma?

Earlier today, under the guise of another Alisson to Liverpool rumor, we spoke about the bizarre nature of the summer transfer cycle, which is almost entirely perpetuated by hearsay and circumstance, with nary a word of affirmation from any of the parties involved. It sure seems like Alisson is on his way to either Chelsea or Liverpool; after all, they offer more exposure and pay better and both clubs need or will soon need a new keeper, so the rumors made sense.

Of course, one of the other peculiar things about rumors is how they beget other rumors. Case in point: with Alisson supposedly inching his way towards the Premiership, Roma naturally have to find a suitable replacement, which has led to names like Alphonse Areola, Keylor Navas and even Kasper Schmeichel. Still, those were wildly speculative rumors without even a hint of reason, but every so often the rumor mill plucks a kernel of logic from the ground to conjure up a story. Enter Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Lost between all the World Cup headlines this summer was a rather interesting development for one of the world’s most storied clubs, AC Milan. With club president Yonghong Li unable to meet the clubs debts, and thus far unable to find a buyer for the club, control of the club was turned over to hedge fund group Elliott Management.

With the sword of FFP drawing ever closer to the club’s neck, to say nothing of their overall organizational instability, Milan may be forced to offload several priced assets. Now, here is where the confluence of fact and rumor gets interesting.

As we all know, Donnarumma is represented by super agent Mino Raiola, who may or may not have already tried to push his client away from Milan. And as luck would have it, Raiola also represents current Roma players Justin Kluivert and Luca Pellegrini, so he has an established relationship and/or leverage with Roma. Oh, and there’s also the outlandish rumor that Raiola has designs on the club itself, so perhaps he’s stocking the shelves before buying the store.

The fact of the matter is that this is a rumor just like any other, lacking any actual substantiation, but it’s woven so expertly into the fabric of the current narratives for Roma and Milan that it’s just believable enough to make you imagine Donnarumma donning the yellow and red next year (or purple, whatever the keepers kits are).

Chances are it won’t happen, but if you’re able to set aside all of the “he’s going to PSG” antics from last year, not to mention his €6 million salary, if Roma can somehow land €70 million for Alisson, pocket some of that cash, and still get Donnarumma, this rumor might be Roma’s best reality.