Manchester City have sealed the deal for their goalkeeper for the next season with the signing of the young shot-stopper from the reigning Portuguese Primeira Liga champions Benfica in the summer. However, they are now poised to find out an able goalkeeper for their side, who will be playing as a backup for the brilliant Brazilian in the next season beneath the crossbar.
With their first choice goalkeeper from the last season, Claudio Bravo, not been able to show a lot of promise with his displays, the man in charge at the Etihad Stadium, Pep Guardiola, has been in a dilemma whether to continue with him in the next season as well or not. Now that Ederson is in the team and will undoubtedly be the first choice as the no.1 for the team, the Spaniard might look to bring someone in who might replace the Chilean shot-stopper and play as a back-up for the young Brazilian.
There has been some recent advancement in talks with fellow Spanish goalkeeper Pepe Reina, who is currently the goalkeeper of Italian club Napoli, and it might be possible that the veteran will make a move to the Premier League club in the next season to replace Bravo, who might go to the Italian club in a swap move.
The 34-year-old goalkeeper has a huge experience of playing in the Premier League, where he played as the first choice goalkeeper for Liverpool from 2004 to 2015. He was brought in by the then coach of the Merseyside club Rafa Benitez and played a pivotal role in holding the fort for the club throughout his career. He left the club in 2015 to join Napoli, with Rafa Benitez taking his prized possession to his new club after he took charge of the Italian outfit.
Reportedly, Benitez, who is the current manager of the newly promoted Premier League side Newcastle United, is again looking for a reunion with his old colleague from the Liverpool days, as he is readying a bid to bring in the veteran custodian to the club for the new season to safeguard his goal from opposition attacks. However, speculations are rife that the Napoli shot-stopper might be more interested in making a move to Manchester City rather than Newcastle United.
The 34-year-old is known for his superb ball handling and even at his age, is a real live wire between the sticks. Now it is to be seen whether he will make the move to City that will entitle him to play second fiddle to Ederson.
