Pep Guardiola is certainly not wasting any time in getting his squad in shape for next season. The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager has already agreed to a deal for a second player in Benfica goalkeeper Ederson after completing a big money move for Bernardo Silva.
Manchester City were not too bad nor were they too good in Guardiola's first season in charge and for the first time in his managerial career, the Spaniard failed to win a trophy. In the hopes of changing that and mounting a title challenge next season, Manchester City needed to solve their goalkeeping problem and Guardiola has wasted no time in doing do.
Also read: Is Manchester City youngster Patrick Roberts set to be the next star at the Etihad Stadium?
The Citizens were linked with a move for Benfica's Ederson for a while now and today his move to the blue side of Manchester was confirmed. After spending £43 million on Bernardo Silva, Manchester City spent £35 million on Ederson and in the process made him the costliest goalkeeper ever, beating the £32.6m paid by Juventus to Parma for Gianluigi Buffon in 2001.
But who really is Ederson and can he solve Manchester City's goalkeeping issues?
The Brazilian started his career with the Brazilian club, Sao Paulo before moving to Benfica and after spending two years with their youth team, he moved to Second Division side Ribeirao in 2011. He spent a year there and then spent three years at Rio Alves and a string of consistent performances led him to being called up to the Brazil under 23 squad with whom he won the Toulon Tournament.
Benfica then resigned him for just €500,000 and if it was not for an injury to Julio Cesar, who was their number one keeper back then, Ederson would have never gotten a first team chance and probably never would have become the most expensive goalkeeper.
He played his first ever game for Benfica in front of 50,000 fans against Sporting Lisbon and guided them to a 1-0 victory and after that match, Benfica coach Rui Vitoria decided to stick with him even after Cesar was fit.
Ederson is a tall figure standing at six feet and two inches and likes to dominate the box and is known for his huge goal kicks that sometimes lands deep in the opposition's half. While Guardiola will not like him doing so much of that as he prefers a passing game, he does have one particular quality that Guardiola will admire.
Ederson is really good with his feet and that is something Guardiola looks for in a goalkeeper and has been compared to Bayern Munich's Manuel Neuer with his eagerness to run off his line, solid decision making and calmness when in possession.
Guardiola bought Claudio Bravo because he likes his goalkeepers getting involved in the build up play but that clearly did not work out. With Ederson, Guardiola has a young energetic goalkeeper who is not afraid to step out of his line and if the Manchester City manager did not see something special in him he would not have made him the most expensive keeper in the world.
Ederson will be expected to come straight into the Manchester City starting 11. He might take some time to adjust to the Premier League but Manchester City have signed one of the most promising keepers in the world and he will definitely be a big boost to their title hopes next season.
Check out some of Ederson's best save from his time at Benfica.
