Manchester City seeks Ederson’s successor in Italy

Last weekend, Manchester City returned to good form by dominating West Ham (4-1) at the Etihad Stadium, during the 20th day of the Premier League. If the crisis is not yet completely over, this precious success in the championship allows us to plug the cracks and start the year 2025 on the right track, while the Cityzens are preparing to play their survival in the Champions League against the Paris Saint-Germain then Club Bruges. The first part of the season, marked by a large series of defeats and an elimination in the League Cup, left its mark. The future will be written well with Pep Guardiola, who extended his contract until June 2027, but without his favorite sporting director, namely Txiki Begiristain and his assistant coach Juanma Lillo. A certain page will be turned at Manchester City and certain senior players also seem to be at the end. New faces are likely to arrive in the coming months after this sadly eventful campaign.

Symbol of this complicated season, goalkeeper Ederson is being singled out more than ever at Manchester City, where his disappointing performances have called his starting place into doubt. Despite an important role in recent years, the 31-year-old Brazilian makes a series of mistakes and his team suffers serious consequences, particularly in defense. In 18 appearances in all competitions, Ederson has conceded 29 goals this season, which corresponds to an average of over 1.5 goals per game. This very worrying assessment pushed Pep Guardiola to start Stefan Ortega on several occasions. While Ederson still has touches in Saudi Arabia according to the English press, the management of the Sky Blues has set out to conquer his successor. According to our information, Manchester City has already checked three profiles to replace Ederson next season: the Japanese international Zion Suzuki from Parma, the Serbian international Vanja Milinković-Savić from Torino, but above all the Italian international Michele Di Gregorio from Juventus . Three goalkeepers who have many points in common, including the fact of playing in Italy.

A delegation present in Turin

The priority has always remained Michele Di Gregorio for several months. According to our indiscretions, the first preliminary contacts took place at the end of December between the two directions. If Juventus is not currently selling, discussions will continue in the coming weeks in the hope of finding an agreement for next summer. However, the Turin management still remains cautious about the idea of ​​getting rid of a player who arrived in the summer of 2024 for a tidy sum of 18 million euros via a paying loan accompanied by a purchase obligation that can be activated in June next. The Bianconeri could nevertheless crack if a good offer were to arrive in the offices of the Old Lady, since the former Monza goalkeeper was sent to the bench a few times before finding his place in the starting eleven – therefore a symbol of rather irregular use. Author of 7 clean sheets in 13 championship matches, Di Gregorio, who is under contract until June 2029, had a good first part of the season and Thiago Motta has always been rave about him. The transaction therefore does not appear to be so simple and it is also for this reason that Manchester City quickly set its sights on two other Serie A goalkeepers: Zion Suzuki and Vanja Milinković-Savić.

According to our information, a small delegation from Manchester City went to Turin in Piedmont last weekend to attend the match between Torino and Parma, on the pitch of the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino. A choice which did not go unnoticed since in addition to observing the midfielder Samuele Ricci so coveted by Pep Guardiola, this clash also opposed Vanja Milinković-Savić on one side, to Zion Suzuki on the other. And one thing is certain: the Mancunian leaders did not come for nothing. If the match ended with a goalless score (0-0), the Serbian and the Japanese nevertheless distinguished themselves by making big saves. With 5 saves for each of the two goalkeepers, Milinković-Savić and Suzuki were able to respond to save their respective teams and thus continue to score points in the eyes of the Cityzens recruiters. The 27-year-old Serbian continues to progress and confirm his status with 7 clean sheets and 2 penalties saved this season. As for the 22-year-old Japanese, he joined Parma last summer and is already one of the best goalkeepers in Serie A in several areas – he is notably in the top 3 in number of goals prevented. According to our indiscretions, Bayern Munich and Arsenal are also on Zion Suzuki’s shelves.