Manchester City haven’t hung about in this summer’s transfer window.Even before the FA Cup final, Pep Guardiola had wrapped up his first signing of the summer and for a fee of £43 million no less. The arrival of Bernardo Silva is simply the first of many, too.After all, although City’s season was far from disastrous, there is undoubtedly room for improvement. Furthermore, their weighty release list means there’s certainly no shortage of fresh vacancies in the squad.

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One area that certainly needs attention concerns goalkeepers and Guardiola might just have found his man. The cure to Claudio Bravo’s crippling inconsistency looks to be coming in the form of Benfica’s very own Ederson.

The Brazilian has made a name for himself in Portugal and has attracted the attention of the Premier League. With publications such as the Daily Mail frequenting the rumours, it’s popularly believed the 24-year-old will be the next capture in an early spending spree for City.

Moreover, it could prove rather shrewd business and not just because of Joe Hart’s exile and Bravo’s questionable performances this year.

Ederson has shown maturity beyond his years between the sticks and demonstrated his fine shot stopping abilities, most notably, against Borussia Dortmund. However, his true talent lies with his distribution.

Now, goalkeepers such as Manuel Neuer and David de Gea are world class when it comes to their kicking, but both appear Sunday league compared to Ederson.

Benfica’s number one has reminded everybody that you can’t be offside from a goalkick with his superhuman knocks from the six-yard box. It’s become known as his secret weapon and it proves astonishingly effective.

After all, this week saw the Manchester City target register an assist from a goalkick against Vitoria. The unbelievable delivery sailed in excess of 100 metres in the air before first bouncing mere inches in front of the opposition’s penalty area.

Raul Jimenez ran onto the ball, flicked it over the ‘keeper and found the net. The incredible incident can be seen below:

Wow, wow and wow.

What makes this talent all the more scary is that such instances are far from anomalous, even if they don’t always result in an assist. The 24-year-old is equally as mercurial kicking from his hands as he is from the ground.

Here is one equally mesmeric clip to affirm that fact:

It has given Benfica an unrivalled edge to their game and the ability to spark a counter attack from the unlikeliest of scenarios. Defenders are being forced to scrap their offside lines in spite of the ball being 70 yards away from them.

Moreover, according to Goal.com, Ederson once scored from his own penalty area during his youth career.

You can’t deny that it would make entertaining viewing in the Premier League. Furthermore, when you consider that Guardiola’s main qualm with Hart was his distribution, he’ll be loving Ederson.

To get his hands on the Brazilian, and his formidable kicking, Guardiola may need to cough up a world record fee for a goalkeeper. If he’s so insistent on the quality of a ‘keeper’s kicking though, he’ll put his money where his mouth is.

Watch this space.

Do you think Ederson is the right man to finally fill Joe Hart's boots? Have YOUR say in the comment box below