Furious Gianluigi Donnarumma is leaving PSG - so why on earth are the European champions tossing aside one of the world's best goalkeepers?

It's important to remember that PSG were hardly a model of consistency during their Champions League campaign. In fact, their triumph can essentially be divided into two acts of starkly contrasting quality.

Luis Enrique's men were on the verge of an embarrassingly early elimination after falling 2-0 down early in the second half of their must-win meeting with Manchester City at Parc des Princes in January - and it took a sensational comeback to turn the game, and their entire tournament, around.

In that sense, there was essentially a before-City and after-City split for PSG, and the Jekyll & Hyde nature of their performances were arguably best personified by Donnarumma.

Just like PSG, he did not convince at all during the first few rounds of the league phase and, along with pretty much everyone else in Luis Enrique's starting line-up, had a shocker in the 2-0 loss to Arsenal at the Emirates on October 1. Given the dreadful overall display, the coach was in no mood to single out Donnarumma for allowing Bukayo Saka's free-kick from wide on the right wing drift past him and into the back of the net.

"Honestly, I'm not here to point fingers for the loss," Luis Enrique told reporters. "If any one person is to blame, it's me. The other team was better with their pressing and won more duels. You can't win a match if you don't win any duels. We deserved to lose."

However, Donnarumma's misjudgement only led to further debate over his status as PSG's undisputed No.1.

There had already been murmurings during Luis Enrique's first season in charge that the Spaniard was less than impressed with Donnarumma's distribution skills and was already requesting a goalkeeper more comfortable with the ball at his feet.

He refused to admit as much publicly, of course. After one particularly calamitous week for Donnarumma featuring three mistakes in three games, Luis Enrique even took the blame for the Italy international getting himself sent off against Le Havre for a reckless foul outside the area.

"Gigio did what I asked of him. I ask the goalkeeper to cover [the final third], so if someone is responsible, it's me," the coach insisted. "Most of the time, it goes well. When it doesn't go well, though, the problem lies with me."

The suspicion remained, though, that Donnarumma, for all his brilliance in between the sticks, wasn't the ideal fit for Luis Enrique's footballing philosophy. Like so many modern coaches, the former Spain midfielder wants a goalkeeper who can not only stop shots, but start attacks - and while Donnarumma excels at the former, he sometimes struggles with the latter.

Consequently, talk of PSG making a move for the more sure-footed Lucas Chevalier, which started last year, never really died down, and the France international has now completed a €40 million (£35m/$46m) transfer from Lille.

Indeed, it now seems obvious that Chevalier's arrival has rubber-stamped the decision to get rid of Donnarumma, as much as the club would've likely preferred both players to compete for the No.1 jersey over the course of the 2025-26 campaign.

Donnarumma's current contract expires next summer, and PSG had offered him an extension. The problem is that the terms of the new deal are not to the liking of either the player or his agent, Enzo Raiola.

They were expecting a renewal that rewarded Donnarumma for his key role in the historic Champions League win, but, according to calciomercato.com, what they've been offered is a smaller guaranteed wage of €7m per annum and a potential €3m in performance-related bonuses, which, even if met, would only match the goalkeeper's current net salary (€10m a year).

Donnarumma had repeatedly stated that his "priority" was to remain in Paris. He is settled in the city where his son was born and would have happily signed a new contract - but, crucially, only if he got what he felt he has earned - which La Repubblica claims is €12m a year.

However, Le Parisian says that PSG effectively issued Donnarumma an ultimatum: either sign the contract on the table or find a new club.

Although the market is always unpredictable, there's no chance Donnarumma is going to accept an offer that he deems less than what he's worth. After all, it's not as if he's short on suitors - especially with PSG reportedly willing to let him go for €40m in order to avoid losing him for nothing next year and cover the cost of signing Chevalier.

At 26 years of age, Donnarumma has only recently issued a very timely reminder of his sensational shot-stopping skills, and both Manchester United and Manchester City have been monitoring his situation closely (even in spite of the latter's acquisition of James Trafford), while he'd undoubtedly represent a serious upgrade on Robert Sanchez for free-spending Chelsea.

It's also common knowledge that a very ambitious Galatasaray are looking for a world-class goalkeeper, and then there's the usual Saudi Arabian interest in such a high-profile player.

It's Pep Guardiola and Man City, though, who are clearly in the driving seat.

PSG would be happy to have Donnarumma and Chevalier competing for a starting spot next season, and the Italian did find himself in a similar position with Keylor Navas when he first arrived at Parc des Princes. However, it's very difficult to imagine such a scenario appealing to Donnarumma leading into a World Cup year - particularly as Chevalier would clearly be the favourite to win this particular duel.

The 23-year-old's mere recruitment is yet further evidence of PSG's drive to insert as many talented young French players into their team as possible, and there's no getting away from the fact that Chevalier is much better on the ball than Donnarumma. As well as keeping seven more clean sheets than the Italian in Ligue 1 last season (11-4) and boasting a better save percentage (71.65-66.22), Chevalier also completed far more long passes (158-62) and 'launches' (61-16), which are defined by Opta as 'high balls into space or an area for players to chase or challenge for the ball'.

PSG gave the clearest indication yet that they are ready to move on from Donnarumma ahead of the UEFA Super Cup clash against Tottenham, with the contract rebel left out of the European champions' squad altogether as his increasingly ugly divorce from the club enters its endgame. Indeed, Italy's No.1 went as far as posting a farewell message on his social media, while his agent is threatening legal action.

As much as it's a surprise, the timing may actually be logical; the goalkeeper's stock hasn't been this high since the Euros four years ago, meaning he'd have little trouble convincing another top team to pay him what he wants, while PSG have already signed a replacement for a player with fewer than 12 months left on his contract.

The stopper may have been PSG's MVP in last season's Champions League, but Donnarumma's departure now makes monetary and sporting sense.