Football

Man City looking at Spanish keeper to pair with Ederson next season

Manchester City will look to reinforce their goalkeeping options by signing Athletic Bilbao’s Unai Simon, a report has stated.

First-choice Ederson is currently backed up by the on-loan Scott Carson and American Zack Steffen.

Carson, 35, has not featured for City in the 18 months he has spent at the Etihad Stadium. Meanwhile, 25-year-old Steffen has made his first eight appearances in a City shirt this season in cup competitions.

Pep Guardiola is looking for another world-class keeper to pair with the Brazilian Ederson, however. He is targeting Spain international Simon, according to Spanish site Todofichajes.

Simon broke through as Athletic’s number one in the 2019/20 season. He has made a total of 72 appearances for Los Leones, keeping 22 clean sheets.

He made his debut for his country last November against the Netherlands and was in net for the 6-0 Nations League win over Germany.

Aged just 23, Simon is showing huge potential. If he were to move to the Premier League, he would be following in the footsteps of his predecessor Kepa Arrizabalaga, who joined Chelsea from Bilbao for £71million in 2018.

Guardiola has reportedly urged the City hierarchy to secure a move for Simon as he looks ahead to next season.

The Spaniard did sign a contract extension last year until June 2025 but there is no release clause in the deal.

The report places a price tag of €50million on Simon, so it would likely be a fee in that region that City would have to pay to get the deal done.

City linked with top European youngster

Meanwhile, City have also been linked with a sensational summer swoop for Benfica striker Darwin Nunez.

Nunez is one of Europe’s hottest attacking prospects. The 21-year-old signed for the Portuguese side last summer for a club-record fee of £21.6million.

He has recorded 10 goals and nine assists in 28 appearances so far this season, including a hat-trick against Lech Poznan in the Europa League.

The Uruguayan has also scored twice for his country in just four appearances.

According to Spanish website Don Balon, Guardiola wants to make a move for Nunez this summer, as well as pursuing Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland.

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The post Man City looking at Spanish keeper to pair with Ederson next season appeared first on teamtalk.com.

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