Manchester City’s midfield is set to look very different next season.
The middle of the park is Pep Guardiola’s main area of focus during the summer transfer window as the legendary coach has already set about rebuilding his squad after a tough 2024/25 campaign in which the Manchester club went the term without a trophy.
Man City are very close to completing a deal for Tijjani Reijnders of AC Milan, while the Premier League club are currently working on a transfer fee for Lyon’s Rayan Cherki.
Both will be two key elements of Man City’s midfield next season, alongside Rodri; however, it is being reported in Italy that the Manchester club have made a move for another Serie A star as Guardiola seems keen to have options throughout the 2025/26 campaign.
Photo by PIERO CRUCIATTI/AFP via Getty Images
Photo by PIERO CRUCIATTI/AFP via Getty Images
Man City have Ederson approach rejected by Atalanta
It was reported last week that Man City could make a move for Atalanta’s Ederson as the Brazilian is a player the Premier League club have been monitoring.
The report stated that Bayern Munich, Liverpool, and Man United are also monitoring the 25-year-old’s situation in Italy, and a report from the print version of La Gazzetta dello Sport (page 18) has stated both Manchester clubs have now approached Atalanta for the midfielder.
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The Italian club is said to have turned down the attempts of the Premier League clubs, and if La Dea change their transfer stance on Ederson, the Brazilian star will cost between £34m-£42m (€40m-€50m).
With Man City needing to address the right-back role in their team, and potentially needing to bring in a new goalkeeper, a deal for Ederson could be a tricky one to get over the line, given the amount of money needed to sign the 25-year-old.
However, the Manchester club’s midfield options would be incredible if they could acquire the Atalanta star, whose energy alongside Reijnders is exactly what Guardiola’s team were missing last season.
Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images
Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images
How Ederson compares to Tijjani Reijnders
It is easy to compare Ederson with incoming Man City star Reijnders as they both played in Serie A last season, and the two stars are similar in many ways, as they are box-to-box midfielders.
Without Rodri last season, Man City lacked physicality in the middle of the park, and the duo would certainly bring that as the Brazilian excels in high-tempo teams, while the Dutch star is all-action and the better of the two with the ball at his feet.
Metric Tijjani Reijnders Ederson
Goals 10 4
Assists 4 1
Shots (on target) 77 (28) 39 (12)
Pass accuracy 89.5% 87.2%
Chances created 47 37
Succesful dribbles 36 23
Tackles won 13 32
Duels won 89 181
Interceptions 38 35
Recoveries 125 186
Tijjani Reijnders and Ederson’s 24/25 Serie A stats
From the numbers above, it is easy to see who is more defensively minded and who is a more attacking player out of the duo, which is perfect for Guardiola, as different tactics will be required across the large number of games Man City will play next season.
Cherki is different from both of these, which would make City’s midfield a complete and versatile one.
It remains to be seen if Man City push harder for Ederson over the coming weeks, as right now they are trying to get other business over the line ahead of the FIFA Club World Cup.