Our No.31 beat off competition from Moroccan international Yassine Bounou and Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois to win the illustrious accolade at The Best FIFA Football Awards in London.
It was a source of personal pride for the brilliant Brazilian who helped City win ‘The Big Five’ in 2023 – the Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.
But he quickly shone a light on the manager who he says has helped his evolution.
“It’s a feeling of ‘job done’, for all the dedication throughout last season,” Ederson said.
“I think that hard work, everything that we put in, was honoured, through the players we had in the Best XI, the Best manager, the Best goalkeeper.
“I think they say that today’s Premier League is the highest level out there. A lot of that is merit to Pep and the style of play that he has introduced, that we play at Manchester City.
“Other teams also want to play this way and today you see a higher standard of football in the Premier League.
“This is down to Guardiola as he is a manager who is able to think 10 steps ahead of any other.
“Any player who is able to play under him will have a very noticeable evolution.
“That’s how it was in my case, in the cases of many players who played under him and who are still working with him, he pushes players to the maximum, and explores the characteristics of that player to get the best out of them.
“I think today was due to our collective work. Our work as a team is going very well, as individuals we are also able to shine, so I’m very happy with this triumph.
“It means a lot to me, after many hours of work, many hours of dedication.
“I feel very accomplished today, but now it’s about continuing to work and focusing on achieving the same triumphs this season that we experienced last season.”
City are currently vying for three trophies across 2024 – the Premier League where we lie in second spot behind Liverpool, the FA Cup where we face a tough fourth round trip to Tottenham and the Champions League, with a two-leg Round of 16 clash with Copenhagen on the horizon.
Ederson says City have the ‘same mentality, same ambition and same hunger’ to win them all again.
“What I think, along with the rest of my teammates, is about having the same ambition to win all these trophies again, because it’s so good to live moments like this, to experience moments like today,” Ederson added.
“It’s important. It’s all down to our work as a collective that individuals can stand out at events such as this.
“So, I think this is what we need to aim to do again, to look to win all of these trophies again.
“We are able to, we just need to have the same mentality, the same ambition and the same hunger to win.”
