Andy Townsend has claimed that a certain player’s potential exit would severely affect this Manchester City side.
Pep Guardiola will be hoping that the future plans of all of his players are finalised ahead of the 2024/2025 season.
In over two weeks, Manchester City face Manchester United in the FA Community Shield.
Soon after, another potentially busy season will begin for the Sky Blues.
As a result, whether a player in question wishes to stay or leave the Etihad Stadium needs to be decided sooner rather than later.
If a player is sold too late into the window, City will lack the time to sufficiently replace them and simultaneously, a potentially failed move could lead to a discontented presence in the dressing room.
Andy Townsend shares how he feels about Ederson potentially leaving Man City
Ederson Moraes’ future has come under huge scrutiny this season — with a report in May claiming City will be open to letting him leave if he informs the club of his desire to explore a fresh challenge elsewhere — despite not intending to offloading him this summer.
On Thursday, it was claimed that the Manchester City goalkeeper’s ideal scenario is to sign for another club in Europe. However, it was also speculated that the decorated shotstopper is aware that perhaps only clubs in the Saudi Pro League could be open to paying City’s £50.1 million asking price to sign him.
However, Ederson has confirmed that “nothing is decided” about his future up until now.
The £35 million man is the club’s longest-serving player alongside Kyle Walker after Kevin De Bruyne and John Stones.
The Brazilian, 30, signed for the English giants at 23.
Since then, Ederson has been a vital cog in Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side — with Andy Townsend emphasising why his potential exit would be a massive loss for the club.
The pundit said on talkSPORT (28/07/2024, 5:32 PM): “I think it would be a huge loss to them, I do. I know that [Stefan] Ortega has done very well, but I think Ederson, not only the goalkeeping skills with his hands but what he does with his feet nobody else does, very few can do it.”
“And he has been a big part of what’s been so successful for them under Pep [Guardiola]. So that would be a huge loss, but he is getting to that point in his career now he is a serial title winner and trophy winner with Manchester City. I am not sure exactly how old he is, 32, 33, whatever, I would have thought so. Once you start getting to that sort of number in your career, then you start thinking about pound note first and foremost.”
Ederson transfer saga could be an open situation for weeks
Last Monday, Fabrizio Romano rubbished the rumour about Manchester City targeting Gianluigi Donnarumma if Ederson departs the club. The Italian journalist stressed that City’s plan remains to convert Stefan Ortega into their first-choice goalkeeper if their number one left this summer.
As a result, the transfer saga surrounding the six-time Premier League winner could continue for weeks — considering a club could potentially swoop in for Ederson’s signature — with City perhaps remaining open to the sale as they back Ortega to suceed him.
In such a scenario, however, the Sky Blues would perhaps also be considering if they have enough time to sign a brand-new backup goalkeeper to the German.
However, if Ederson decides to stay at the Etihad Stadium after taking time to ponder over his final decision, that too could take a while.
With that in mind, the transfer saga surrounding the club legend could be one that is far from over.