Pep Guardiola reveals Ederson fitness setback ahead of Chelsea clash and Manchester United meeting

Manchester City were forced into a late assessment of fitness on mainstay first-choice goalkeeper Ederson ahead of their final pre-season clash of 2024.

The Premier League champions have now closed out their pre-season preparations over in the United States with a comprehensive victory against English top-flight rivals Chelsea in the state of Ohio.

An Erling Haaland hat-trick and an Oscar Bobb strike, complimented by a brace of James McAtee assists saw Manchester City emerge as 4-2 victors over Enzo Maresca’s men, closing out their tour of the United States with a largely injury-free squad list.

However, Saturday night’s contest did not come and go without it’s issues, as a pre-match concern over Ederson meant the Brazilian was not only absent from the warm-ups ahead of the contest, but also sat out for the entirety of the 90 minutes.

Speaking during his post-match media duties following the victory over Chelsea in Columbus, Pep Guardiola revealed that Ederson’s absence from action against Enzo Maresca’s side was due to “niggles” noticed ahead of the meeting in Ohio.

The Brazilian was revealed to not have trained with the rest of the Manchester City squad on Friday evening, although there is hope that the 30-year-old will return to full fitness next week ahead of the first competitive contest of the season.

Ederson was however with the rest of his teammates on the pitch afterwards at Ohio Stadium, thanking Manchester City’s USA faithful for their commendable support throughout their tour Stateside.

The Brazil international will no widely be expected to maintain his duties with Manchester City into the upcoming season, despite continuous links with a move to Saudi Arabia over the last few months.

Following Al-Nassr’s failure to come close to Manchester City’s £50 million valuation, and Al-Ittihad’s inability to do the same, the Saudi Pro League is becoming an increasingly unlikely destination for the goalkeeper this summer.

Ederson may not start in Manchester City’s opening competitive clash of the new season, but would be highly likely to take up goalkeeping duties for the trip to face Chelsea in the Premier League opener for the reigning champions.