‘Ederson: Europe’ is now available for subscribers - and in the second of the three-part series, the gifted Brazilian keeper reveals that his skill with the ball at his feet took some of the City players by surprise
“When the offer arrived at my door I didn’t hesitate - I said I want to sign for City,” said Ederson.
“Regardless of whether it was to play with my feet or hands, I didn’t care!
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“For me, it was my dream to play in the Premier League and this was a chance to fulfil my dream.
“My first day here was very relaxed. Pep explained why he had signed me and told me what I could add to the team.
“Then he showed me of an assist I did for Raul Jimenez for Benfica. It was a goal kick - I played it straight into the opponents’ box - he won it, flicked it over the keeper, then headed it in.
“When Pep then showed the video to the team at a meeting, they all turned around to look at me. Pep said: ‘We are going to train this today’.
“Man, it created a buzz to see how far I could kick the ball.”
Ederson’s first appearance in a City shirt proved he could pretty much place a ball at the feet of any team-mate, no matter where they were on the pitch.
And in his first training session he demonstrated his unique talent immediately.
“So we warmed up and then took to the field,” he recalled. “We started training and with my first kick, I hit the ball to Kun, straight into the other box.
“The guys were like, “What the...?
“I told them; you haven’t seen anything yet! The rest is history!”
During pre-season in America, he made his City debut against Spurs in Nashville – and started as he meant to go on, playing an 80-yard pass to Sergio Aguero who ultimately saw his effort cannon back off the post.
He would later provide a Premier League assist for Aguero and another for Ilkay Gundogan, as well as chances for numerous near- misses by his team-mates.
‘Ederson: Europe’ also sees the Brazilian crowd favourite explain the difficult transition to becoming the Blues’ new No.1 - especially after Claudio Bravo had been brought in ahead of Club legend Joe Hart.
“It was clear that for the fans, it was difficult because Joe Hart is an idol of this club,” he said.
“He played for many years here, so you think that a player at his level, with his history at this club, with the titles he won, the great matches he was part of… to start this new period and not be involved (was hard).
“It is understandable - the fans’ reaction - because I know the quality he has. I understand that the fans were upset, of course I do.
“When Claudio Bravo arrived, he had a lot of pressure on his shoulders because Pep took Joe out and put Claudio in.
“The pressure is very, very high and the expectations even higher.
“Because it’s different, you have a team that plays a certain style of game and a new coach arrives that plays a completely different style. That takes time.
“So I arrived, and I already had this style underway, so it was it was much easier for me to adapt.”
