Man City urged not to sell ‘lethal’ Ederson to Saudi Arabia as former No.1 Peter Schmeichel insists Stefan Ortega would be a downgrade on Brazilian shot-stopper

Ederson has been described as utterly crucial to Manchester City’s era of dominance by former Cityzens’ goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Ederson was heavily linked with a move away from City to the Saudi Pro League over the summer although he has since declared he will be remaining at the Etihad Stadium. And Schmeichel, who ended his career with City, believes that is a huge boost to Pep Guardiola’s side.

WHAT SCHMEICHEL SAID

“I think Ederson is one of Man City’s most important players, if you take him out I find it difficult to see how they can be so dominant,” Schmeichel told GOAL. “Yes he’s been injured and maybe [Stefan] Ortega has come in and done really well. Maybe Ortega is somebody who can play ahead of Ederson, but with all the respect to Ortega, no-one is Ederson, no-one uses their feet better than Ederson does.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Ederson had a compelling battle with City’s reserve goalkeeper Ortega last season, with the German being frequently called upon due to the Brazilian’s injury troubles. Ortega thrived in Ederson’s absence and made a Premier League title-winning save against Son Heung-min in City’s penultimate game of the season. However, Schmeichel still believes Ederson is irreplaceable.

“People focus on the work he does with his feet, and it’s the best in the business. They never talk about how good a goalkeeper he is, because he really is a fantastic goalkeeper. So any team that loses somebody like Ederson are gonna lose out. It doesn’t matter who the No.2 is. I know people will say Ortega came in and did really well, yeah fine. But to come in for two or five games, it’s different to playing 55 or 60 games per season.”

‘LETHAL PASSING’

“The way Man City play, if they’re lucky enough to have teams being brave and pushing up against them, then he’s lethal,” added Schmeichel, who was talking on behalf of Panini, who today launch their Official Premier League Trading Card game Adrenalyn XL. “He’s got the pass that can cut through a team, I’m not necessarily talking about the 50-yard pass, just a 12-yard pass straight up the middle, a lot of goalkeepers are straying away from doing them but just with one pass he’s bypassing four or five players. I’ve never seen anybody do that.”

DID YOU KNOW?

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Schmeichel spoke of his fascination for collecting football stickers when he was growing up. “My first one was the 1974 World Cup. Obviously we didn’t have too many things to do with football, there was no Internet, so all of a sudden you had these stickers with all the teams in the World Cup,” he recalled. “It became a really big thing between me and my friends and everybody else, you’d get the album filled in first, trading cards, it was a fantastic way to get to know the players playing in the World Cup.”

WHAT NEXT FOR MAN CITY?

Ederson helped City win their first trophy of the season by scoring in their penalty shootout victory over Manchester United in the Community Shield. Guardiola’s side begin their quest to win a fifth-consecutive Premier League title when they visit Chelsea in their opening day of the season on Sunday. Schmeichel believes that City and Arsenal will be the main contenders for the title once again.