Jamie Carragher says Manchester City have needed to replace their ‘fantastic’ £35m player for absolutely ages

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Manchester City let themselves down against Real Madrid by throwing away a one-goal lead to eventually lose 3-2 in the first leg of the Champions League playoffs.

Pep Guardiola would have been distraught as for much of the game, City looked like the better side.

However, it would be disingenuous to claim that Real Madrid did not deserve a result from the contest at the very least as they were much more threatening going forward than the hosts.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side took 20 shots against Manchester City on Tuesday — the most any side has against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium since Pep Guardiola’s arrival in 2016.

Ederson Moraes kept the Sky Blues in the game on several instances — making crucial saves to keep the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham’s close-range efforts out.

But for Real Madrid’s second goal, Ederson failed to get a hand on Vinicius Jr’s initial attempt, with the ball hitting his chest and falling kindly in Brahim Diaz’s path to score the equaliser.

For Bellingham’s eventual winner, the £35 million (BBC Sport) man made the bizarre decision of rushing out, which allowed Vinicius to dink the ball over his head and the Los Blancos midfielder to score an open goal.

• READ MORE: Man City star told to ‘take the blame’ for Real Madrid defeat last night, he should know better

Jamie Carragher urges Man City to replace Ederson after Champions League defeat vs Real Madrid

While Ederson’s magnificence can never be called under question, it is impossible to deny that he can be guilty of making massive errors from time to time.

Even against Feyenoord, the former Benfica goalkeeper was culpable for letting the Dutch giants stage a miraculous comeback to draw the game 3-3 from three goals down.

After Manchester City’s damaging defeat to Real Madrid, Jamie Carragher claimed that Manchester City must replace Ederson.

Carragher said on CBS Sports: “We keep talking about Manchester City and Rodri and we saw a big banner of him before the game with the Ballon d’Or, we saw him on the bench and we keep talking about, you know they need midfield players, they’ve got older players, I think we’re at the stage now where Manchester City need a new goalkeeper.”

“Ederson’s been fantastic for Man City with the ball but in terms of being a goalkeeper, he’s cost them tonight and they needed him because he’s a really senior figure, he’s been there, he’s done it, he’s won all the leagues, Champions Leagues and this has been going on for too long with Ederson, the goalkeeper.”

“That’s nowhere near enough at this level of football, he’s cost his team the game there.”

Pep Guardiola dropped Ederson against Liverpool earlier this campaign, who soon after returned to the fold after Stefan Ortega had taken his place.

Ederson could have left Manchester City in the summer but Guardiola revealed a lack of a suitable offer meant they decided not to sell the six-time Premier League winner — with the Catalan tactician also admitting that he could be on his way out ahead of next season.

Four Ederson replacements if he leaves Man City in the summer

Back in August, Fabrizio Romano revealed that Werden Bremen goalkeeper Michael Zetterer was Manchester City’s “number one replacement option” for the treble-winner in case he departed the club.

If Ederson decides to part ways with City in a few months’ time, one can imagine that the German will be on the English giants’ transfer shortlist.

Mike Maignan was reportedly on Manchester City’s radar if Ederson left the club in the summer, who has just one year left on his contract at AC Milan.

Another player who the Premier League champions can target is 23-year-old Lucas Chevalier, who has emerged as one of Ligue 1’s most in-form goalkeepers at Lille.

Diogo Costa has been linked with a move to England for years and with the wealth of experience he has, perhaps it may be wise for Manchester City to at least take a look at the Portuguese shotstopper as well.