Manchester City are set to complete their second acquisition of the summer by signing Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson from Portuguese champions Benfica.
The numbers reportedly mooted suggest it’s going to be a world record fee for a shot-stopper eclipsing the amount Serie A giants Juventus paid Parma for Gianluigi Buffon back in 2001. And look how successful that purchase turned out to be.
This potential move to England would mark another step in Ederson’s remarkable ascent. He turns 24 in August and started his career in 2008 as a teenager when it’s common to see those where he grew up begin a lot more younger.
Who is Ederson?
Born in Osasco, a municipality in São Paulo State, his first club was local outfit São Paulo FC where he played one season as a youth player before Benfica snapped him up.
However, after two years in Lisbon, he’d leave for second division Ribeirão in 2011 before relocating to Rio Ave a year later.
It was there he got a taste of regular top flight football, having made 63 appearances in total across three seasons and managing 21 clean sheets in the process, enough to convince his former employers to rehire him.
Ederson returned to The Eagles in 2015 for a reported £425,000 and quickly established himself as their first choice beneath the sticks as well as one of the best young sweeper-keepers out there which no doubt grabbed the attention of a certain Guardiola.
How has Ederson fared since rejoining Benfica?
Under the auspices of Rui Vitória, the former Brazil under-23 international has played 58 times for the record Portuguese champions, keeping 32 clean sheets in the process and only shipping in 39 goals.
Of those playing more than 10 matches in the Portuguese top tier, he possesses the best clean sheet % (66.7) as a result of 18 shutouts from 27 matches.
Can Ederson adapt to Pep Guardiola’s demands of a goalkeeper?
Once the Spaniard was officially unveiled as Manchester City boss last summer, one of his biggest decisions was to offload Joe Hart and replace him with Claudio Bravo from Barcelona.
The reason? Because the Chilean international was adjudged to have been better with the ball at his feet than the City favourite.
Whilst that may be true, Bravo has failed to convince that he’s up to the task of replacing the England international as the club’s number one in the long-term. Hence why Guardiola has turned his attentions to Ederson.
Having worked with Manuel Neuer and Victor Valdes in the past, Guardiola’s requirements of his number one is to act like a sweeper keeper. Being able to read the play,be comfortable with passing out from the back and more importantly knowing when it’s needed to go long.
Vitória has Benfica playing slightly different to what Guardiola wants at City which explains why Ederson’s average distribution length (41m) per 90 minutes is considerably more than current number one Claudio Bravo’s efforts (22m).
One factor that does remain the same is ability to keep the ball out. In that regards Ederson is averaging 4.08 saves before conceding whilst it’s a paltry 1.08 for Bravo.
With that being said, there’s no doubt he possesses the wherewithal to adapt to Guardiola’s prefered way of playing football, even if we should expect a few teething problems (new country, league, team etc).
What are Ederson’s international credentials?
On a personal note, before making his official City debut, Ederson could have won his first international cap. The 23-year-old was called up by Tite for their upcoming friendlies against Argentina and Australia on the 9th and 13th of June respectively.
Next season culminates with the 2018 World Cup and a strong campaign might just see Ederson edge out his rivals for that iconic Brazil goalkeeper jersey.
Ederson has always favoured a move to the Etihad Stadium
Interestingly, back in June 2016 during a Facebook Q&A, Ederson hinted that he would choose a switch to Manchester City ahead of Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich if he were to ever leave Benfica.
“City or Munich? They are two great teams, two teams that will fight for titles next season. But I prefer England and City,” Ederson said.
“I will not leave (Benfica), do not want to and do not intend to.
“Although the decision is not always 100 percent made by the player. Unfortunately.”
What’s been said about Ederson?
“Ederson has already shown in the Champions League that his talent is undisputed,” ex-Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar said.
“He is always focused and has an excellent reading of the game, even without the ball.
“I think Ederson needs another kind of challenge to feel another kind of pressure. But the talent is all there, he only needs to prove it under other conditions. I have no doubt that with the qualities he has can overcome anything.”
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