Ederson has been Pep Guardiola's ideal goalkeeper - but the time is right for Man City to bid farewell to Brazilian amid Saudi Arabia interest

Guardiola's first major act at City was to drop Joe Hart due to his perceived lack of distribution skills and sign Claudio Bravo from Barcelona to replace him. It soon became apparent that the Chilean was not cut out for English football and his struggles were a big reason why City only finished third in the Premier League that season while failing to win a trophy, the only time that has happened in Guardiola’s coaching career.

City scoured the market for a new goalkeeper and landed on Ederson, paying a then world-record £34 million ($43m) to bring him in from Benfica. The Brazilian was unaffected by the pressure of the transfer fee and quickly proved to be Guardiola’s knight in shining armour.

His seven years with City have witnessed unprecedented success, including six Premier League titles and a Champions League triumph which, unlike Valdes, he proved crucial to pulling off. Yet despite everything they have achieved together, the timing could be just right for City and Ederson to part ways.

Ederson has been City’s undisputed No.1 for the last eight years, although that status ever so slightly faded last season, when he sustained a number of injuries over the course of the campaign and Stefan Ortega performed admirably in his absence.

Ederson never had anything to worry about from his previous deputies Bravo, Scott Carson or Zack Steffen, who could not match his footwork skills and were not particularly adept at shot-stopping either.

But Ortega, who joined City on a free transfer in the summer of 2022 after being relegated from the Bundesliga with Arminia Bielefeld, has proven a much fiercer rival to the Brazilian. Ortega quickly demonstrated his calmness on the ball and his ability to play out of his area when he got the nod in cup competitions in his debut season.

His long-kicking was also impressive and played a part in Ilkay Gundogan’s record-breaking goal in last year’s FA Cup final against Manchester United. And last season he held his own in some of City’s biggest games when Ederson was injured, keeping a clean sheet against Arsenal and performing well in the Champions League quarter-final 3-3 draw with Real Madrid.

Ortega’s best intervention, though, came in the most crucial moment of the title race, in the penultimate game at Tottenham, when Ederson had to go off after fracturing his eye socket in a clash with Cristian Romero. In the 86th minute, Son Heung-min bared down on City’s goal with a glorious chance to level the game and hand the initiative in the title race back to Arsenal, but Ortega turned into a giant spider, thwarting the South Korean with his right leg.

Moments later, Erling Haaland scored a penalty to effectively secure the title, although Ortega was the real hero, his save proving crucial to City staying on course for a record fourth title. And in the eyes of many, it was the moment in which Ortega proved he could be the heir to Ederson’s throne.

A month before, the German had said he would have to “choose wisely” about his next step as he mulled whether to remain at City as the second-choice or seek his fortune elsewhere as a No.1.

Less than a month later, and despite a disappointing FA Cup final defeat to Manchester United, Ortega signed a new contract with City. That suggests that he also believed that he could either take Ederson on next season or that he suspected the Brazilian would be about to leave and vacate the starting spot.

A lot has been made about how Ederson reacted to that save. According to The Athletic, the Brazilian did not enjoy the adulation that his team-mate received. That has been dismissed as ‘fake news’ by Ederson’s wife. However, it should be noted that just a few days after the win over Tottenham, while the Brazilian was still nursing his eye injury, the first reports about potential interest in him from Saudi Arabia emerged.

Perhaps aware of the potential for Ederson to be sensitive to praise for Ortega, Guardiola had been at pains to point out the Brazilian’s value to his team immediately after the Tottenham win.

"Do you know why we won the Champions League?" he asked. "It was Ederson. In Madrid, at 1-1, he made an incredible save from a header from [Karim] Benzema. The Champions League final, he was the key player, the key to winning. We cannot define the period without Eddie, impossible."

But that period does seem to be close to ending. Reports of the interest from Saudi Arabia have only grown over the summer, and the numbers involved are eye-watering. Ederson was offered a staggering £900,000 per week ($1.1m) by Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr, although the club were not willing to meet City’s £50m ($63m) valuation.

Al-Ittihad are now the frontrunners to sign Ederson, and even if they are to offer lower terms than Al-Nassr, they will still blow City out the water. Ederson is reported to be on £190,000 ($242k) per week at City. There has been talk of him receiving a pay hike to remain in Manchester, but if it is to come down to money, City will not stand a chance.

If City are able to get £50m for Ederson, it will represent a fine piece of business, a £16m profit on a player they signed seven years previously who is soon to turn 31. And they have a ready-made replacement in Ortega, who joined for free and will not need a bedding-in process.

Guardiola last week pleaded with Ederson to stay, but also urged him to make his mind up quickly. He said: “I’d like Ederson to decide his future as soon as possible. I only hope for him to stay with us. He’s a person I love, who I want. He’s a ‘porterazo’ (great goalkeeper). If he has to go… with all the pain in the heart, I’ll understand.”

Ederson has been ambiguous about his plans, but he has not made any promises about staying. Like Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez before him, it seems he has reached the end of his road with City, having won everything there is to win.

There have also been signs that his powers are waning. Although he played a crucial role in the Champions League win over Inter, denying Robin Gosens at the near post in the 97th minute in Istanbul, he had been inconsistent in the Premier League.

In that same season, he routinely conceded the first shot on target he faced. Two-thirds into the same campaign, he had the third-lowest save percentage in the league. City’s attacking prowess meant that this habit rarely led to them dropping points, but it did affect Ederson’s previous reputation as a world-beating shot-stopper.

For a while it felt like he was only City’s No.1 due to his footwork, but Ortega has shown that when the Brazilian is absent, City can still play the way they want, build from the back and break quickly from their goalkeeper.

There is a sense that Ederson could be living out the final days of his City career on the pre-season tour of the United States. But if this is his chance to fight for his future at the club, he is not playing like it.

He has conceded five goals despite playing just 135 minutes in the States, three of which he really should have saved. Ortega has looked far sharper, looking as if he is ready to take the baton from Ederson.

Despite Guardiola’s plea for the Brazilian to stick around, it seems that City have had a succession plan in place for some time. If Ederson does leave, he should get the recognition he deserves as City’s finest goalkeeper of all-time, the man who redefined the position and what the team need from their man between the posts. But time waits for no one and City are not as dependent on the man with the rose neck tattoo as they once were.