Manchester City’s late dip into the transfer market for a new goalkeeper on deadline day underlines the fact these are worrying times for manager Pep Guardiola and his team.
Summer signing James Trafford has started all three games so far this season and was one of a few City players who came out of Sunday’s defeat at Brighton with any credit, but the Englishman is now likely to be consigned to the substitutes’ bench following the arrival of Gianluigi Donnarumma.
With Ederson sold to Fenerbahce, City and Guardiola pounced with hours remaining to bring in the Italy international from Paris St-Germain for £26m in an attempt to revitalise a squad that is flagging in the early part of the campaign.
City started the Premier League season with a thumping 4-0 win at Wolves, but have since suffered back-to-back defeats against Tottenham and the Seagulls.
“When we conceded the goal, we stopped playing,” Guardiola said of City’s late capitulation on the south coast on Sunday, letting slip a 1-0 lead for a 2-1 defeat by conceding in the last minute.
Now Guardiola has turned to Donnarumma to try to help fix his team’s issues, taking their summer spending to more than £180m.
So does Donnarumma possess the attributes to fill the gap left by Ederson’s exit? And what does the future now hold for Trafford?
Credit: bbc.com
