Manchester City have announced they have completed the signing of Benfica ace Ederson Moraes in British transfer record deal for a goalkeeper.
Benfica announced the departure of their No.1 goalkeeper last week but City have been ironing out third party issues before being able to announce his arrival on a six-year deal.
Ederson, 23, has impressed for Benfica since joining the Portuguese giants in 2015 from rivals Rio Ave and Pep Guardiola will hope the Brazilian will finally solve the club’s issues in goal.
“It’s been in the newspapers and the media for a while,” Ederson told the club’s official website. “When I knew, it was real, that City were really interested in me, I was very happy because it’s good to see your work recognised.
“I like everything about Manchester City. This is a great club, the league they have here in England and they have amazing fans and they play splendid football. I have always had the dream to play in English football and now I’m going to make it true.
"With Pep Guardiola, City are growing more and more. He is putting in place a young team for the future. Those were important factors in making my decision.
“Manchester City has an amazing squad. I think they managed to have a good season. Next season, we will have to be focused to achieve the goal of winning trophies.”
After deeming Joe Hart surplus to requirements last summer, Guardiola's side paid nearly £15m for 34-year-old Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo but the Chile international struggled to adapt to the Premier League and even lost his place in the team towards the end of the season.
The City boss will hope it’s second time lucky after sanctioning a £34.7m deal that comes in just below what Juventus paid Parma for Gianluigi Buffon in 2001 (€53m), which still represents a world record fee for a goalkeeper due to the exchange rate.
Only Iker Casillas (17) kept more clean sheets in the Portuguese Liga NOS last season than Ederson (15), while the Benfica ace had the best save success rate of goalkeepers that made at least 10 starts (81.2%).
For more stats on Ederson Moraes, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
