3 weeks ago
8
Manchester City is set to finalize the signing of Gianluigi Donnarumma from Paris Saint-Germain once Ederson's transfer to Fenerbahce is completed.
This double move on deadline day will provide Pep Guardiola with a new No. 1, as he bids farewell to a player who has been setting the bar for the past eight years.
Ederson, who was relatively unknown when he arrived in 2017, was brought in to replace Claudio Bravo after his attempt to succeed Joe Hart had gone terribly wrong. He revolutionized the perception of goalkeepers in the Premier League and leaves with numerous individual accolades in addition to all the team trophies.
The Brazilian nearly departed last summer but was persuaded to stay by Guardiola, although he did briefly lose his place in the team to Stefan Ortega as City's standards slipped.
He vowed to remain at the Etihad while at the Club World Cup, but is now poised to join Fenerbahce following a turbulent three weeks where transfer interest from Galatasaray saw James Trafford chosen as the starting goalkeeper for the season.
City plans to replace Ederson with Donnarumma, who bid farewell to PSG last week after being informed he was surplus to requirements.
The Blues need to iron out details with the club and player, but this is not anticipated to be a problem.
They will then be able to include the new keeper in their Champions League squad, which must be submitted at the close of the transfer window.
With the arrival of Donnarumma, City's summer spending is set to exceed £170 million ($230 million), following a £175 million ($236.8 million) outlay in the January window.
Despite not matching some of their rivals' expenditure, this will undoubtedly ramp up expectations for the club to better last season's underwhelming performance.
City has more business to attend to on deadline day, with the futures of Stefan Ortega, Manu Akanji, and Ilkay Gundogan still up in the air.
Tottenham is reportedly interested in Akanji, while the other two have been conspicuously absent from the season's opening matches.
The club is also looking to offload more players, including Issa Kabore and Kalvin Phillips, even if it's just on a temporary loan basis.
It's anticipated that more academy talent will be heading out as well, most likely on loan deals.
English (US) ·