The reassurance has come inside the walls of the Etihad, not on the record.
Raiola, who represents Italy’s captain and Manchester City’s first-choice goalkeeper, used the Italian radio interview, picked up by Calciomercato.com, to insist that the biggest news story in English football right now has not reached his client’s head.
“Will the Manchester City chaos change anything? No, nothing will change for us or for Gigio,” he said.
“The club has spoken with Gigio and everyone is calm.”
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“Gigio has had reassurances from Manchester City.”
Donnarumma, 27, joined City from Paris Saint-Germain in September 2025 on a five-year deal, confirmed by the Premier League as Ederson moved on to Fenerbahce. He has worn the Italy armband throughout the current international window and remains the defining figure between the posts for both club and country.
The verdict, and what the panel decided
The verdict landed on September 30. The independent commission found City guilty on almost all of the 115 charges spanning the 2009-10 to 2017-18 seasons, with the one not-guilty finding tied to a specific allegation that City had failed to cooperate with the Premier League’s investigation during a portion of the proceedings. Al Jazeera reported that the panel concluded City had used “sham” commercial contracts to inflate revenue and reduce costs by more than £900m over the nine seasons, more than £830m of which came as secret funding from the club’s Abu Dhabi owners disguised as sponsorship.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters called it “the most significant” disciplinary case and decision “in Premier League history.”
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Sanctions are a separate hearing. Under Premier League Rule W64, the panel can impose anything from a fine to a points deduction or expulsion, with a residual clause that leaves stripping titles on the table. City deny wrongdoing and must lodge their appeal by Friday.
City players breaking cover
Donnarumma’s camp is not the only one trying to answer the obvious question. Nico Gonzalez, who left for Newcastle in August 2026, became one of the first current Premier League players to address the verdict in public, telling Sky Sports that the fallout from the ruling was “a hard situation for everyone.”
Manuel Akanji, now at Inter Milan, told Swiss outlet Nau that the message to the dressing room had been the same one Raiola is now repeating in public.
“We were told to stay calm, that they had everything under control and nothing major had happened.”
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“I hope I don’t lose my titles. That would be a bit of a shame.”
The strength of the ruling has, by all accounts, surprised City’s own staff. ESPN reported that chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and CEO Ferran Soriano have led an internal campaign of calm, insisting on the club’s innocence and warning players that the process could run for years before any sanction is confirmed. Soriano has publicly called the verdict “a single false accusation” and a “Premier League conspiracy theory.”
Raiola on the criticism of Donnarumma
Away from the FFP question, Raiola also used the Radio Napoli Centrale slot to push back at those who have questioned Donnarumma’s standing in the game.
“For years I’ve said that Donnarumma would be the best.”
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“Many people criticised Donnarumma unfairly, especially given his quality.”
City must lodge their appeal by Friday; a date for the sanctions hearing has yet to be set.
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