Manchester City are ready to make a move for Marcus Bettinelli, Chelsea’s third-choice goalkeeper, following the departure of long-serving cult hero Scott Carson.
Bettinelli, 33, has been targeted as the right profile to support a goalkeeper stable led by Ederson, with hopes of a deal before the transfer window closes on Tuesday for Club World Cup teams to sign players for the tournament.
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The Chelsea goalkeeper would cost a small fee compared to City’s current summer moves for Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki and Rayan Ait-Nouri. He has been at Stamford Bridge for four seasons and played just once, yet is recognised by managers as having an important part in the squad for pushing team-mates in training.
Scott Carson of Manchester City interacts with Ederson of Manchester City prior to the Premier League match between Chelsea and Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on September 25, 2021 in London, England
Carson has been a familiar face at Man City since joining the club in 2019 - Getty Images/Matt McNulty
Bettinelli is also homegrown, which helps with City’s quotas for the Premier League and Champions League next season.
His only game for Chelsea came in 2022 when he played against Chesterfield in the FA Cup. Earlier in his career he was a regular at Fulham and earned a call-up to the England squad in 2018 under Gareth Southgate, although is uncapped.
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Carson is leaving the Etihad Stadium after six years at the club following an initial loan. His career has included a Champions League medal in 2023 although he was always back-up to Pep Guardiola’s first-choice.
“I’ve loved every minute of it,” said Carson during a rare interview in 2021. “Obviously, in my head and all through my career, I’ve wanted to play, and coming here, I knew that wasn’t going to be the case. And I knew it was going to be very difficult to play any games.”
City are trying to finalise deals for the squad to be ready for the Club World Cup, with chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak admitting they were not aggressive enough in the market a year ago and paid the price.