Despite being officially signed by Manchester City this summer, Zack Steffen never got to meet Pep Guardiola.
The goalkeeper went straight from Columbus Crew in the MLS to Fortuna Düsseldorf in the Bundesliga, where he has been the undisputed starter and one of the best performers so far this season.
We covered an article earlier this week stating the German side were already thinking about extending the loan, and while they would ideally like to buy Steffen, Manchester City’s price of €25-30m made that ‘impossible’.
According to Kicker, a meeting is now planned between the Premier League champions and Zack Steffen, as the goalkeeper will travel to England alongside Düsseldorf’s sports director Lutz Pfannenstiel, where he will finally get to sit down with Guardiola.
It’s said Steffen’s performances are ‘regularly reported’ back to Manchester City, who are keeping tabs on his achievements in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Perhaps this meeting is where Pfannenstiel will approach the aforementioned subject of a loan extension, and it could all depend on what Pep Guardiola has planned for the 24-year-old going forward.
With Ederson in goal for the foreseeable future, however, his path at the Etihad seems blocked for the time being.