Donnarumma proclaims ‘great affection’ for Milan: 'A piece of my heart is always there'

Gianluigi Donnarumma has claimed that a piece of his heart remains at AC Milan ahead of the Champions League meeting in Paris tomorrow night.

Donnarumma came through the youth academy at Milan and became the established starter when he was still a teenager, but there were two contract renewal sagas and the second one proved to test the patience of the management too much.

At the end of the 2020-21 season Donnarumma’s deal was expiring, and after the final game the then-directors Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara made it clear they had already signed Mike Maignan as his replacement from Lille.

The Italian went to Lille and tomorrow he will face his old club for the first time since leaving two years ago. He spoke to SportMediaset about the memories he has there, with MilanNews relaying his comments.

“It will be an exciting match against Milan. I have many friends at Milan, a piece of my heart is always there. I have great affection for Milan, it will be a special match,” he said.

“I spoke with Calabria, we exchanged a few jokes. I’m happy to see them again and to be able to hug them again, on the pitch we will be opponents, but off the pitch we will always be friends.”

Meanwhile, Donnarumma responded to a question in the press conference about the strengths that Milan have.

“An important, difficult match. Their strength is the compactness of the group. I know Pioli, how he prepares matches, you have to pay attention.

“We prepared for it very well from all points of view and we are ready for this challenge where we will try to win. There isn’t a favourite, the group is very balanced.

“It’s complicated, every match is difficult. Both us and Milan need to win. Milan are a strong team used to the Champions League, so we will have to give everything to win the match.”