This is City." It's been a few days since the Manchester Derby victory but sat at Man City's training ground, Gianluigi Donnarumma is still basking in the glory. He's not interested in Erling Haaland's controversial winner - though he's still annoyed Phil Foden was "harshly" sent off earlier in the game - as something else pleased him. A man down, everything going against them - City showed mettle and won.
"I loved my team-mates' performance, it was sublime," he tells Sky Sports. "The capacity to stay in the game and to react to difficult moments - no one can take that away from us. "We will give everything for this shirt, for this club that gives us so much and offers us so much great support.
It has a great history, and we need to give a lot back to it." Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Not many had City down to hold a 100 per cent record this season ahead of the upcoming, lengthy international break - especially after losing the core of a successful era in Pep Guardiola, Bernardo Silva, John Stones and Rodri. City have not been entirely convincing in certain areas - even Donnarumma says there is still lots to learn despite the faultless start to the Enzo Maresca era. But this was meant to be a transition season at City.
"I don't really like the word 'transition.'" he adds. "The club's objective is to win. This team's objective is to win.
We'll certainly give everything we can to achieve that. Follow Sky Sports on WhatsApp for the latest sports news, videos, features, analysis and much more "We could reach the end of the season having won something, or having won nothing. But what's important is having a winning mentality, going out there and trying to win everything we possibly can." Part of that winning mentality is being driven by Donnarumma - who is part of a newly-formed leadership group that replaced the likes of Bernardo, Stones and Rodri.
Donnarumma sits alongside Ruben Dias in the leadership pecking order, along with Haaland and Marc Guehi. All four players have one thing in common: they all have won trophies both at City and at other clubs in their careers. So as the likes of Ayyoub Bouaddi, Elliot Anderson and Ilimian Ndiaye settle into their new team - tasked with making an immediate impact in a non-transition year - the leadership quartet are there to drive the standards.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
