Manchester City played their second pre-season game of the summer last night against AC Milan.
Pep Guardiola‘s side were beaten by Celtic last time out and the manager was keen for his side to get back to winning ways at the Yankee Stadium in New York.
But it was another defeat for City against the Italian giants.
Milan won 3-2, with Lorenzo Colombo scoring twice for them. Marco Nasti got the other, with Erling Haaland and James McAtee on target for City.
Oscar Bobb was once again the star of the show for City, dazzling on the right side and further strengthening his case for more minutes in 2024/25.
Pep made an interesting decision in this game regarding Ederson, who didn’t impress one local media outlet.
Ederson will be ‘frustrated’ with his performance in Milan defeat, as Pep makes Brazilian Man City captain
There was been a lot of talk about Ederson over the last few weeks regarding his future at the club.
He is of interest to Saudi clubs, with Al-Ittihad having been trying to sign him over the last week or so.
Ederson has reportedly given the move the green light. But so far, an agreement has not been reached between the two clubs.
Despite all the speculation, Ederson was back playing for City last night against Milan. And Pep decided to hand him the captain’s armband in a potential show of love from the manager. It is not uncommon for managers to do this when players are being linked with an exit.
Going into this game, there had also been claims that Ederson had not been happy about the reaction to the save Stefan Ortega made last season against Tottenham Hotspur, which included some suggestions that the Brazilian would not have made the save himself.
The player has since come out and denied this.
Last night, Ederson – who played just shy of 80 minutes – didn’t have his best of outings against Milan.
The Manchester Evening News gave him a 5/10 for his display and said: “Recalled, and made captain, Pep Guardiola desperately wants Ederson to stay. He made two big stops early on, but will be massively disappointed to let two Lorenzo Colombo strikes through his body at the back post. He knows he can do better.”
City must resolve Ederson situation quickly
So Ederson was involved for City last night against Milan, and one wonders if all the recent speculation might just have affected him against the Italians.
All three of their goals were saveable, and an Ederson on top form would not have had any trouble.
The final goal from Nasti really felt like one he should have pushed wide, but the £35 million Brazilian just couldn’t get there.
We will now see if there are any developments with Ederson regarding a potential exit from the club. But hopefully, there can be a swift resolution.
It is never ideal when there is speculation swirling around a key player in pre-season.
