Mike Maignan: Know everything about the AC Milan man who was named Serie A best goalkeeper of the 2021-22 season

The Frenchman had a stellar debut season for the Rossoneri, conceded just 21 goals and keept16 clean sheets in 31 appearances.

AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan; Credit: Twitter/@mmseize
By Sreejith C R | May 23, 2022 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

AC Milan player Mike Maignan has won the Serie A Best Goalkeeper award for the 2021-22 season. The Frenchman had a stellar debut season for the Rossoneri as he played a key role in the title triumph. The 26-year-old joined the Italian giants from Lille last summer in a deal worth around EURO 15 million in total, being brought in to replace the departing Gianluigi Donnarumma. He immediately settled into Stefano Pioli’s side and has gone on to shine as Milan won their first Scudetto in 11 years. The Rossoneri defeated Sassuolo 3-0 at the Magpie stadium in the final matchday of the campaign on Sunday to win the Serie A title.

Maignan kept 16 clean sheets

As announced by Lega Serie A, Maignan has been awarded the Serie A MVP Best Goalkeeper title following his solid debut season with Milan. The Frenchman has conceded just 21 goals and kept 16 clean sheets in 31 Serie A appearances this season, shining despite missing six games through a wrist injury. He has a post-shot Expected Goals minus Goals allowed of +7.1, the best in the league and far above second placed Davide Ospina, who has a PSxG+/- of +5.2. The stats suggests Maignan has saved seven goals from going in, based on the accumulative quality of shots faced.

Read more: Why Inter Milan have struggled in their Serie A title defence this season?

Maignan came in to replace Gianluigi Donnarumma

Maignan had big shoes to fill when he arrived in Milan as Donnarumma was a ‘star boy’ in Italy. The young Italian starlet left Milan in somewhat of a bitter fashion to Paris Saint-Germain last summer. Donnarumma came up through the Primavera team and earned his first start as a 16-year-old. Although Milan struggled in many of the youngsters’ years, he was a bright spot in the team. In the eyes of the Milan fans, he was the future captain and the golden ticket back to success. The Italian however moved to Paris in 2021, after earning more than 200 appearances with Milan. This was a major blow to the club and getting an elite goalkeeper was not easy. Director Paolo Maldini envisioned this possibility and had a deal complete for Maignan with Lille. 

Maignan constantly makes clutch saves

Maignan has excellent numbers to back his talent and the Frenchman constantly makes outstanding saves, many of which help Milan win matches. Donnarumma had a knack of the same thing, making clutch saves to earn points for his team. Meanwhile, Maignan is just 26-years-old. As a goalkeeper, he is still very young and probably has a decade of top level football left in him. Milan won the title on the back of a strong defensive game plan and Maignan played a key role in it. The Rossoneri kept 11 clean sheets from their last 16 Serie A games, in which they were unbeaten. Milan were like a well oiled machine who were pretty good at defending the slender leads.

Maignan kept a clean sheet against Sassuolo

On Sunday, Olivier Giroud scored a brace while Franck Kessie netted once to help AC Milan secure all three points and move to 86 points, two points clear of second-placed Inter Milan, who defeated Sampdoria 3-0 in the other match of the day. Although it was a dominant performance from Milan, the hosts managed to create a decent number of chances at the other end and Maignan was up to the task of preventing the ball from entering the net. Maignan made his first real save when he got down to claw away Davide Frattesi’s glancing header from a free-kick at the far bottom corner.





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