Ederson: Man Utd agree £35m deal for Atalanta midfielder
Manchester United have reached an agreement worth £35 million (40.5 million euros) with Italian team Atalanta for Brazilian midfielder Ederson.
The 26-year-old football player will sign a 4-year contract with United, with the option to extend the contract for another 12 months.
Ederson still requires a medical and sources say the transfer should be completed in early July before United’s return to pre-season training begins.
He will be the club’s first signing since Michael Carrick was appointed as permanent head coach last month.
The deal will also be subject to an additional payment of £3.9 million (€4.5 million).
This is the first of three midfield additions that could be made to Carrick’s squad this summer.
United is prioritizing this region, which is weakened by Ederson’s compatriot Casemiro (34), whose contract expires at the end of the month.
Ederson, who has three international caps, was named in Brazil’s expanded 55-man World Cup squad but missed out on manager Carlo Ancelotti’s final selection.
United are also keen on West Ham’s Mateus Fernandes, but the relegated London outfit are looking to make a significant profit on the Portuguese centre-half, who cost them in excess of £40million when he joined from Southampton last summer.
United are also eyeing Englishman Elliot Anderson, but the Nottingham Forest player would prefer to join Manchester City.
In addition to strengthening its midfield, United also wants to add the left winger to its squad, with Newcastle’s Lewis Hall among the players on its radar and providing striking support to Benjamin Sesko.
They are also still to decide on the exact makeup of their goalkeeping squad; This squad includes Radek Vitek, who had a great season on loan at Bristol City and won player of the year awards.
The 22-year-old Czech player told BBC Sport in April that he was open-minded about the future but wanted to play regularly and suggested he would not return to Old Trafford as backup to Senne Lammens.
Former first-choice Andre Onana is understood to have been told he could find another club, but it is unclear how easily his wage demands will be met given the Cameroon international will benefit from United’s qualifying boost to next season’s Champions League.
Ederson, 26, has proven his ability to adapt to multiple midfield roles at Atalanta, scoring 16 goals in 180 appearances in all competitions for the Serie A club.
Guided by minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, United have revamped their data analysis operation under Michael Sansoni, and the former Mercedes Formula 1 high-flyer has been instrumental in identifying the right targets, working with director of football Jason Wilcox.
Carrick confirmed he had attended recruitment meetings from the moment he was named Ruben Amorim’s interim successor in January.
