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Pep Guardiola Clarifies Donnarumma's Role- 'Didn't Sign Him To Play Like Ederson'

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Emmanuel Mendez | Last updated Sep 12, 2025 3:38 PM ET

Manchester City have an interesting home game this weekend in the Premier League. They will take on Manchester United in the Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium.

Ahead of the derby, Man City are excited to see one of the latest signings the club made this summer, Gianluigi Donnarumma. The Italian goalkeeper is one of the best keepers in the world and showcased it with PSG last season.

Donnarumma is seen as the replacement of Man City's former goalkeeper Ederson, who left the club a few weeks ago to join Turkish team Fenerbahçe. In a press conference, Guardiola was asked about Donnarumma's qualities and if he signed him to replace Ederson.

Guardiola assured that Donnarumma was not brought to Man City to replace Ederson since the two goalkeepers have different qualities.

Pep Guardiola on Gianluigi Donnarumma's Qualities

When hearing about Donnarumma potentially brought to replicate Ederson's ball-playing ability, Guardiola shut that down immediately and said he brought the Italian keeper for other attributes.

Pep Guardiola: "I will not demand from Gigio [Donnarumma] to do something he's uncomfortable [with]. We're talking about the best player I've ever seen in distribution, short and long, in Ederson. We didn't take Gigio to do what Ederson has done. Gigio has another qualities."

Guardiola believes in his new keeper, and when asked what Donnarumma offers in comparison to Ederson, the Spanish manager described the keeper's size as a key factor.

Pep Guardiola: "He's so tall. He's so huge...He's going to concede goals. That's for sure. But, all of us, we're going to try to help him so it doesn't happen."