Italian professional soccer player Gianluigi Donnarumma beat Mendy to the 2021 Lev Yashin award for Best Goalkeeper in European Football.
A little about Gianluigi Donnarumma
Gianluigi has enjoyed a meteoric rise to prominence in recent years, initially debuting for Milan as a 16-year-old back in 2015. Gianluigi Donnarumma left San Siro before joining PSG in the summer, but only after helping the Rossoneri get into the Champions League again and play a key role in his country’s run to the glory of Euro 2020.
Record achievements of Donnarumma
The Italy national team player was only the second person to win the Yashin Trophy after Liverpool’s Alisson, and the Brazilian took first prize in 2019 before the ceremony was canceled the following year. Gianluigi Donnarumma, who also drew up the final shortlisted for the Ballon d’Or, received the most votes after recording 14 blank sheets in 45 runs in all competitions for Milan, as they finished second in Serie A on the last deadline and made it to the final stages of the Europa League.
His exploits with Italy have carried the most weight as he played in all seven of their European Championship matches, including the final – during which he saved two penalties when Mancini’s side beat England in a dramatic shootout.
Edouard Mendy lost
Chelsea No.1 Edouard Mendy narrowly lost to Donnarumma in the final vote despite an outstanding debut season in English football. Senegalese stopper Edouard Mendy has retained 16 clean sheets in his 31st Premier League run for the Blues and nine more in the Champions League as Tuchel’s man won the trophy back in May.
The Premier League was also represented in the top ten by net-minder Man City Ederson, Leicester’s Kasper Schmeichel and Aston Villa star Emiliano Martinez, with Bayern Munich keeper Manuel Neuer, Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois, PSG’s Keylor Navas, Atlético Madrid’s Jan Oblak and Inter stopper Samir Handanovic completing the list.