Ederson signing 'makes sense' for Man Utd

BBC Radio Manchester’s Joe McGrath and Jay Motty from The Stretford Paddock gave their thoughts on the expected arrival of midfielder Ederson.

The Red Devils agreed a £35m (40.5m euros) deal with Atalanta earlier this month.

Ederson, who has three international caps, was named in Brazil’s 55-man expanded World Cup squad but initially missed out on the final selection.

Motty told The Devils’ Advocate podcast: “I think it makes sense from a Manchester United point of view. We can’t buy three or four £75m-£80m midfielders and we need at least three midfielders so you would expect one of them to be less than £40m or around £40m which this lad is.

“We’ve spoken to a few people who have watched more of Atalanta than I have and he seems like he is a decent midfielder. Someone said he is like the good bits of Fred.”

During his time at Atalanta, Ederson has adapted across a number of central midfield roles, scoring 16 goals in 180 games for the Serie A side in all competitions.

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“He wasn’t called up to Carlo Ancelotti’s squad, [but] has now got a call up because Wesley got injured so we might get to see a bit of him in the World Cup which is a bit of a bonus. Hopefully that won’t bump up the price,” said Motty.

“He’s out of contract in a year’s time so don’t expect the fee to go up. It’s a solid signing that makes sense. You wouldn’t want him to him to be your only midfielder but I don’t think he will be.”

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