Donnarumma or Trafford? Man City’s “sensible” goalkeeper choice for Manchester derby

There are “benefits” to starting either Gianluigi Donnarumma or James Trafford in goal for Manchester City in Sunday’s Premier League derby against rivals Manchester United, Citizens expert Steven McInerney tells Sports Mole.

Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has told Sports Mole that there are “benefits” for either Gianluigi Donnarumma or James Trafford starting in Sunday’s Premier League clash with rivals Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium.

Across the last two transfer windows, new director of football Hugo Viana was assigned the huge task of reshaping Pep Guardiola’s squad and one of the most significant changes has come between the sticks.

Academy graduate Trafford returned to Man City from Burnley for a reported £27m at the end of July and has since started in each of the club’s opening three Premier League games of the new season.

Trafford kept a clean sheet on his debut in a 4-0 win at Wolves on the opening weekend, but he made a costly error leading to a goal in City’s 2-0 home defeat to Tottenham before conceding another two goals in a 2-1 loss at Brighton before the international break.

Since then, Man City have sold long-serving goalkeeper Ederson to Fenerbahce and have signed a fellow Champions League winner as his replacement, bringing in Donnarumma from Paris Saint-Germain on deadline day.

Donnarumma, who represented Italy during the international break and performed ‘poorly’ in a 5-4 win over Israel, is expected to link up with his new teammates in training later this week and could be ready to make his Premier League debut in the 197th instalment of the Manchester derby on Sunday.

Unwanted Bravo flashbacks: Will Donnarumma make PL debut against Man Utd?The 26-year-old could become the first Man City goalkeeper to make his debut for the club in a Manchester derby since Claudio Bravo, who enduring a baptism of fire at Old Trafford but ultimately came away on the winning side (2-1).

“Does Donnarumma start? Does Trafford start? You’d think Donnarumma would do, because he has to,” McInerney told Sports Mole. “The last time a goalkeeper made his debut against Man United, it was an absolute disaster – it was Claudio Bravo.

“My head goes back to that entirely and Donnarumma is a much better keeper than Bravo, but a derby, your first game, it doesn’t matter how good you are, the anxiety and the nerves (could be felt) and a mistake can happen to anyone.”

Asked if he expects Donnarumma to start in goal on Sunday, McInerney added: “I think he has to. I don’t think you sign people like Gianluigi Donnarumma and not play him.

“Maybe it is Trafford’s shirt for this one, but Donnarumma is known for being this big-game goalkeeper. He’s such a massive presence in every sense that it feels weird to sign him and then not put him into a game of this magnitude.

“The only potential reason that you wouldn’t is if he’s had no time (to train and prepare for the game) after an international break.

“Usually when you sign a player and he goes straight into the team, they’ve had a training session to meet their colleagues and so on, and you could argue that, right now, that one more piece of the puzzle being changed around could just be a bit silly and I think there’s an argument for that.

“But I’d just be amazed if Guardiola would be able to resist temptation to put Donnarumma in goal, because he’s Donnarumma and it’s a big game. You have player like that because they thrive in those moments.”

Despite that, McInerney would like to see Trafford retain his starting spot between the sticks and he has suggested that the 22-year-old would be the “sensible” goalkeeper for Guardiola to select against Man United.

Is Trafford the “sensible” Man City goalkeeper to start in Manchester derby?“I don’t think I would [select Donnarumma] personally, I generally wouldn’t,” he added. “I think I’d play him in the next game or the one after. Napoli [are City’s next opponents after Man United] but at least he would have had a few days training at that point.

“Napoli at home in the Champions League makes more sense than to [play him against Man United] when he’s not really met his teammates yet and so on.

“I think Trafford would be the sensible one, but maybe the sensible solution is Donnarumma [because] Donnarumma is a world-class goalkeeper.

“Either way, I think there’s benefits of either route, so I’m quite relaxed about it. If Trafford plays, I think it’s logical. If Donnarumma plays, it’s (also) logical because it’s Donnarumma.”

“The academy lads will probably come alive in this game”Emphasising his wish to see some of City’s academy graduates give game time in the Manchester derby, McInerney continued: “I think the academy lads will probably come alive in this game. [Oscar] Bobb and Rico [Lewis].

“I would also really like to see James Trafford play as well [but] it won’t happen. I don’t know if he was a City fan as a kid, but he probably is now because he spent so long in City’s academy.

“He grew up looking forward to games like this and I think he wants to be City’s number one in a game of this magnitude, so I would like to see that. I’d like to see Trafford play.

“I know it sounds silly – most people would want Donnarumma – but I just think for this game in particular, in the derby, I’d like to see the academy lads.”

McInerney has also shared his thoughts on a number of other Man City stars who could be named in Guardiola’s starting lineup, including Phil Foden who has returned to training this week.

> Click this link to view and listen to the full discussion

ID:581280:1false2false3false: from db desktop :LenBod:collect8182: