City Watch: Galatasaray eye Ederson

Only four weeks remain until the Premier League season begins again, and after almost two months of writing this column since last season drew to a close, I cannot wait for it to be back.

It still feels like there’s still more business to be done in the transfer window, despite City’s quick start to their signings early on.

In last week’s column, I spoke about the possibility of signing Tino Livramento from Newcastle, with the ultimate complication being that the Magpies simply don’t want to sell, and it seems Tino isn’t too keen to request a transfer. 

This still leaves Pep with no solution to his right back problem.

Now Kyle Walker has moved on to Burnley following his loan at AC Milan in the second half of last season, Rico Lewis is the only realistic right sided full back we have. 

Pep had been playing Matheus Nunes in the position towards the end of last season and during the Club World Cup, but I honestly don’t see this as a permanent solution. 

Nunes was signed as a midfielder, and although he has outstanding pace and plays the inverted role quite well when we’re in possession, his defending just isn’t good enough. 

I don’t blame him for that, after all, he’s not a defender!

The other area where there have been some rumblings this week is for a potential new goalkeeper. 

It’s been reported that Turkish side, Galatasaray, are planning a move for Ederson, potentially leaving City short handed in goal.

It looks like City will turn to one of their former academy players to fill this gap, that player being James Trafford. 

The 22 year old left the Blues for Burnley back in 2023, following loan spells at Accrington Stanley and Bolton Wanderers. 

There is a reported £40 million buy back clause in Trafford’s contract, making a return a little simpler in terms of negotiations.

This could potentially be a good move for City, we know that Trafford can play out from the back, which is what Pep will want, but Ederson would leave a big gap if he were to depart, with his distribution being among the best out of goalkeepers the Premier League has ever seen.