Joe Hart’s career at the Etihad is looking as good as over as Manchester City are close to completing the signing of Benfica goalkeeper Ederson Moraes for a record-breaking £34.9million in the next 48 hours.
As per reports by Portuguese sources, the Brazilian goalie was expected to arrive in Manchester on Monday (May 29) for the medicals today. And if everything goes well, Manchester City will break the £32.6m world-record fee for a goalkeeper which Juventus made after buying Gianluigi Buffon from Parma way back in 2001.
The signing will take City’s spending to a whopping £78m within 10 days of the end of the season as they look to challenge for the title once again after going trophyless last season. Pep Guardiola has already secured the services of Portugal international Bernardo Silva from Monaco for £43m on Friday and is expected to sign the Ligue One champions’ left-back Benjamin Mendy in coming days.
Meanwhile, Guardiola would be desperately hoping that signing Ederson proves to be a good decision. The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager had faced severe criticism after sending fan favourite Joe Hart out on loan to Torino for the season and signing Claudio Bravo from Barcelona. The decision turned out to be disastrous for the club as well as Guardiola as Bravo cut a sorry figure throughout before being dropped by late January.
And now Ederson’s arrival is likely to end Joe Hart’s career at the Etihad. Hart’s performance at Euro 2016 and subsequent struggles at Torino has only proved Guardiola’s decision right and the England star, it seems, will have to play for a new team in the next season.
On Monday, Hart confirmed his departure from the Italian outfit.
“Thank you, Torino, I am so proud to have played for your special football club,” the England goalkeeper wrote on social media.
“I will come back to see you all one day so it is a bye, for now, enjoy an amazing summer. The way you have treated me and my family is something that we will never forget. I will forever support Torino for the rest of my days. I have met so many special people and this has been one of the greatest experiences of my life,” he added.
Ederson, meanwhile, is likely to become number one choice at City after helping Benfica to a pair of League titles. The Brazil U-23 international, who is yet to debut for the senior team, probably made his final appearance for Benfica on Sunday night (May 28) as the Portuguese giants completed the double by beating Vitoria Guimaraes 2-1 in the Portuguese Cup final.
When asked about City’s interest after the match, Ederson had told Portuguese newspaper Record:
“I still do not know, but this was probably my last match with Benfica.”