Benfica goalkeeper Ederson due to arrive in Manchester as City deal moves closer

Benfica goalkeeper Ederson is due to arrive in Manchester as his £35million transfer to City moves closer.

The club have still to negotiate a settlement on the 23-year-old’s third-party ownership issues first but Press Association Sport understands they are hopeful he will undergo a medical on Tuesday.

Last week Antonio Silva Campos, president at Ederson’s former club Rio Ave, revealed they still hold 30 per cent of the player’s rights and Jorge Mendes’ agency Gestifute 20 per cent with Benfica having the other half.

The Football Association banned third-party ownership in 2008 and it was outlawed by FIFA in 2015 but allowed existing arrangements to remain in place until their contractual expiry and this is what City are working through at present.

City are paying Benfica 40million euros, therefore technically still making Gianluigi Buffon’s 51million euros transfer from Parma to Juventus in 2001 the most expensive for a goalkeeper.

Ederson is set to become the second signing of manager Pep Guardiola’s summer overhaul at Manchester City after Monaco playmaker Bernardo Silva joined for £43million on Friday.

City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, in an interview conducted before their interest in Ederson became public, admitted Guardiola accepted goalkeeper was a position which needed addressing after an unconvincing first season from Claudio Bravo, who was signed from Barcelona last summer.

“You should expect us to bring in a goalkeeper. That is another area which requires some work. Pep knows exactly what he needs,” Al Mubarak told mancity.com.

“We have done a lot of work in this area and I think also our target has been set and hopefully you will be hearing soon what we are doing in that area.”