In the past few days, Benfica goalkeeper Ederson has been the subject of many rumours linking him to big European clubs. The speculation came from various sources, with Mundo Deportivo being one of the first to publish, saying Barcelona, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United would all be interested.
Then the story made it to England and obviously to Portugal. Record has a short article about it today, only mentioning Barcelona, City and the Gunners, with their information coming from the British press.
The big difference when these stories are published in Portugal is that they’re pretty aware of how much the local clubs would ask for the players. And in this case, it’s quite important.
The newspaper claims that Benfica would only let him go for the right price, which, unsurprisingly, is his release clause of €45m.
Portuguese clubs always push for release clauses, but Ederson’s contract makes it even more necessary. That’s because his old club Rio Ave kept 50% of his economic rights, so Benfica can only get half of that price.
As €22.5m isn’t a high amount for a goalkeeper, there’s no way they’re going to negotiate. It’s basically a matter of take it or leave it.
Ederson has been linked to Manchester City for a long time, especially after Pep Guardiola was appointed as a manager.
The City links make sense for three reasonable reasons. 1. Pep Guardiola praised the player whilst he was manager of Bayern Munich. 2. Manchester City repeatedly scout Benfica. 3. Claudio Bravo isn’t exactly having a dream first season.
The other clubs mentioned haven’t been fully thrown into the mix previously, but their inclusion helps hype everything up.
