There was a Manchester City fan on Thursday’s Ryanair flight back home from Leipzig wearing a Gianluigi Donnarumma sticker on his coat, portraying the Italian as Don Vito Corleone. The sticker, a bit worn and a bit crumpled, was peeling off. A metaphor exists within that somewhere.

Tough times for Donnarumma, a calamitous night in the Champions League – beaten at his near post by Ridle Baku's cross for one goal, fumbling another routine effort at the feet of a striker and allowing a straightforward shot to squirm through his fingers – just adding to the feeling that the past few weeks have not reflected kindly on him.

Question marks around Donnarumma’s suitability between the sticks are becoming more pronounced after a catalogue of mistakes this season. One against Paris Saint-Germain when Maghnes Akliouche’s shot was too hot (some would argue two after neglecting his near post for Desire Doue’s opener) and then Nicolas Jackson shooting through him at Aston Villa last month.

Each time, Enzo Maresca has publicly recognised the errors and intimated that nobody needs to rake over them in detail with his No1, who is experienced enough to know he must do better.

Now Leipzig. ‘It’s not a concern,’ Maresca said of the latest gaffe. The manager’s defences of Donnarumma are racking up and what City are witnessing is fundamental problems from somebody described as the best the world has to offer.

Maresca has rejected the idea that summer signing Geronimo Rulli, a 34-year-old Argentina international, could take over the gloves, claiming that City line-ups are always ‘Gigio plus 10’. Rulli understood his lot when joining from Marseille, to feature in domestic cup competitions, and was happy with that.

Happy in a way that James Trafford was not, after making it clear that one season as Donnarumma’s understudy was not palatable. 

He has flourished at Leeds United so far this season, leading to some observers criticising Hugo Viana for letting him go, only to blunder for a goal at Bournemouth last weekend. Worth remembering that it does happen to all of them at some point.

Trafford did not appear ready for the big time last year when starting the season ahead of the wantaway Ederson and City had their eyes on Donnarumma months before landing him – a £26million deal struck just as Ederson left for Fenerbahce. 

Trafford will be ready soon and is pushing Jordan Pickford hard to be England's No1, but definitely wasn’t back then.

With Trafford gone and Maresca seemingly ruling out his No2 taking over – while also making a vague reference to taking stock over the international break – it appears that City would have no option but to stick with Donnarumma if they did actually want to bring about a change. January signings seem remote in the current climate of guilty verdicts and appeals.

But there is something outstanding that Donnarumma does offer, one that does set him apart. Maresca categorised the stunning one-handed save from Leipzig’s Christoph Baumgartner as one nobody else could make. 

And while some hyperbole might be at play there, very few could lay claim to producing that kind of moment on a semi-regular basis.

Repelling Baumgartner is up there with Donnarumma’s instinctive save from Bryan Mbeumo at a crucial juncture on debut last year and thwarting Alexis Mac Allister in a victory at Anfield. The sort of awe-inspiring saves thousands pay money to witness.

Nobody across the Premier League has a higher save percentage than Donnarumma’s 71.5 since his arrival from PSG. More scientifically, only Bart Verbruggen and Senne Lammens have prevented more goals in that time – a metric measured by the xG of shots compared to how many goals were conceded.

Donnarumma has prevented seven goals (1.4 this season), with Brighton’s Verbruggen at 9.7 and Manchester United's Lammens at 8.1 across the same period. These are broadly encouraging numbers for City, despite Donnarumma's save percentage dipping to 69.7 this season – eighth among his peers, with Trafford way out in front on 79.5.

City will need to keep a careful eye on that downward trend from a 27-year-old who they brought to the club to act as the anchor, to bail them out in a way that Ederson struggled. That was the trade-off for his limited footwork, being incapable of playing through the opposition lines in a way the Brazilian could.

The wonder saves cancel all of that out. Donnarumma has been the goalkeeper’s goalkeeper for those alone. But were the certainty around that aspect of his game to waver on a longer-term basis, City should have decisions to make.