Manchester United are apparently closing in on a £38m deal for Atalanta midfielder Ederson and honestly, it feels like the most United thing possible to happen this summer. Not a marquee name that makes the whole country sit up. Not someone who sends the fanbase into meltdown. Just a solid, dependable Brazilian midfielder who most casual fans will need to Google. Classic.
Now look, before anyone starts, this is not a bad signing. Far from it. Ederson at Atalanta has been genuinely excellent. Gian Piero Gasperini does not give minutes to passengers, and this lad has been absolutely integral to one of the most entertaining sides in Europe over the last few seasons. The man can pass, he can press, he wins the ball back like his life depends on it. At 25 he is hitting his peak years. United are getting a proper footballer here.
The question, as always with United, is not whether the player is good enough. It is whether the club around him is functioning well enough to actually get the best out of him. They asked that about Casemiro. They asked it about Mount. They will ask it again here. United have this remarkable ability to take genuinely good players and turn them into question marks. It is almost a superpower at this point.
Ruben Amorim needs bodies in midfield, everyone knows that. The squad has been crying out for someone who can do the ugly work in the engine room and actually make the team tick. If Ederson can come in and do what he did at Atalanta then United fans should be delighted with this business. Thirty eight million for a player of his quality, in this market, is not bad at all. That is almost a bargain by modern standards.
The worry is not the player. The worry is that United spend £38m, things do not click, and in eighteen months everyone is debating whether to sell him. That is the cycle. That has always been the cycle. Here we go again.
Let me know your thoughts.