Atalanta midfielder Ederson has responded to those Manchester United rumours as the Premier League-linked midfielder insists that he is playing the best football of his career.
A certain Casemiro may have made his name as one of the finest defensive destroyers in the modern era but, having scored 11 goals in a year-and-a-half at Old Trafford, the Brazilian veteran is clearly no Claude Makelele; barely straying across the half-way line and never even considering about a pot-shot from distance.
Ederson, potentially Casemiro’s long-term successor for both Brazil and Manchester United, is a footballer in the same mould as his soon-to-be 32-year-old compatriot.
The ‘extraordinary’ Atalanta ace is the very definition of the ‘all round midfielder’. Not only does he produce some of the best ball-winning statistics in Serie A, he has also scored a career-best six goals this term, breaking into the penalty area like Paul Scholes in his pomp.
Can Ederson replace Casemiro at Manchester United
As Brazilian journalist and Vamo Corinthians editor Rogerio Amaral tells United In Focus, Ederson ‘is a strong player who makes a lot of tackles. (But) he has a good pass and usually makes longer passes as well. He is not an offensive midfielder, but he sometimes appears in attack’.
He appears in the gossip columns too. Or, at least, he has done in recent months.
According to Goal Brasil, there is interest from Manchester United in the £17 million-rated enforcer. Ederson is not getting carried away with those rumours just yet, however, even if an all-action midfielder is likely to be one of United’s priority targets over the summer with Casemiro’s future uncertain and Sofyan Amrabat returning to Fiorentina.
“This subject always comes up when the transfer windows approach. It was no different with me,” Ederson, who has also been mentioned alongside Newcastle and Barcelona, tells Globo Esporte.
“I think this time, because it was perhaps one of the best moments of my career, and being at Atalanta today, it really boosted me. It’s something that players talk about a lot. But it’s something that I really learned, to leave it to my agents and then pass it on to me. Otherwise you are creating unnecessary expectations.
“Many things begin to appear with the window and you don’t know what is true, what is a lie, what could be happening. This is more of a hindrance than a help.
“If it were something very, very concrete, then the club would pass it on to us, because we have a good relationship with them. I don’t know how true (the Man United links were).”
Brazilian in best form of his career
Ederson, who is nearly a decade Casemiro’s junior and would give Erik ten Hag greater longevity and energy in the centre of the park, admits that this is probably the finest campaign of his senior career.
“I think, in terms of offensive and defensive numbers, I am experiencing the best phase of my career,” adds the 24-year-old, who joined Atalanta from Salernitana in 2022.
“But I think there is still a little more to improve. I’m working on this every day, to maintain the good form and, if possible, improve any details.
“I produce numbers offensively and defensively. They can say; ‘Ah, he’s a midfielder who only defends’. Or ‘he’s a midfielder who only attacks’. No. I do my job as a steering wheel.
“I defend. When I can attack, I will. When not, I help defensively.