Pep Guardiola changes stance on Man City goalkeepers to add to transfer confusion

The goalkeeping position is up for grabs at Manchester City and amid the uncertainty there is no clear No. 1 at the Etihad.

Ederson is wanted by Galatasaray in the final days of the transfer window

Pep Guardiola is yet to decide who will start in goal for Manchester City at Brighton amid uncertainty over the future of Ederson and James Trafford's mistake against Tottenham last week, and he is going to delay a decision on his first-choice for the season for another few weeks.

The City manager will decide on Saturday who gets the nod in goal at the Amex Stadium, with Trafford aiming to keep his place after the 22-year-old started the first two Premier League games of the season.

Ederson returned to the bench against Tottenham, which was a surprise call after Guardiola had labelled the Brazilian his No. 1 a week earlier, but the Brazilian continues to be linked with a move away from the Etihad.

Galatasaray want to sign Ederson, but any potential transfer is going down to the final days of the window. Guardiola's plans for Sunday's fixture on the south coast could change if the two clubs agree a deal, with the potential for a departure this weekend.

The City boss admitted he now won't make a decision on his No. 1 for the season until after the international break and a week that consists of Premier League games against Manchester United and Arsenal, and the start of the Champions League. That is a change of stance from two weeks ago, when he insisted Ederson remained his first-choice goalkeeper.

"In this part of the season before [the] international transfer window is closed, everything is possible. So it's simple as that," Guardiola said of his goalkeeping group.

"After that, we're going to play United and Champions League and Arsenal, after that everything will be more clear and we take a decision. It depends on the performance and it depends on many reasons."

Trafford was partly at fault for Tottenham's second goal last week and he was also fortunate not to be penalised for a handball outside the box between the first and the second goals.

The episode unsettled him and he produced a nervous performance on his home debut for the club, but Guardiola said he had bounced back this week and received support from within the club.

"Always they have the arms on their shoulders, always. They don't believe it, but we take care of them. Impossible [it] would be better," he said.

"What happened don't belong just to James. It's not easy to say but don't belong just to James to change what happened in the second goal against the Spurs.

"He has a huge personality. Of course he's concerned, I would not like it if he is not concerned, but of course we are here to help them."

Guardiola refused to be drawn into the future of some of his players who could leave before Monday's 7pm deadline and even elected not to comment on Savinho, who is now set to stay at the club despite interest from Tottenham recently.

"Monday, finish the transfer window and next press conference you can ask me about that," Guardiola said when asked about Savinho.

"Don't ask me about the rumours and the potential arrivals or potential flights, so next week."

Guardiola also insisted he would be happy with the squad if no more players left, despite insisting throughout the window that it is too big.

Stefan Ortega, Manuel Akanji and Ilkay Gundogan could all leave without being replaced, but Guardiola has no concerns if they don't go and insist the players know they are in danger of being left out of squads.

"I don't like to have players at home, but the reality is the players know it for a long time," he said. "And if it stays like it will stay, I will be more than pleased and I will handle it day by day. And that's all."

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