A goalkeeper must meet certain requirements for Pep Guardiola, who has accustomed his goalkeepers to being the first line of the build-up. With Ederson's departure to Turkey and Donnarumma's arrival, a new page is being written in the book of goalkeepers who have signed under his orders. There have been quite a few: 13 signings with Pep at the helm of the three teams he has managed.

At Barcelona, only one arrived, and that was as a substitute: Jose Manuel Pinto. A free agent from Celta Vigo in the Second Division, he accepted the role of substitute for Victor Valdes during Guardiola's time at the 'Cules'. It is true that he had already been on loan before. No other goalkeepers joined the Barca team before Guardiola's departure.

At Bayern Munich, he signed three goalkeepers, each with their own particular characteristics. With Manuel Neuer already at the club and fully established, two more arrived in the summer of 2014. The first was Ivan Lucic, who joined at a very young age from Austrian football, although he never made his debut for the first team. The one who did was Pepe Reina, who spent the 2014-15 season in Munich, although he only played three games as second goalkeeper. Then Sven Ulreich arrived in 2015.

There has been more movement in goal at Manchester City, where he has also spent most of his career. One of his first signings was Claudio Bravo. Coming from Barcelona for €18 million, Guardiola brought in a goalkeeper who was already accustomed to the footwork he required. That same summer, he also signed Geronimo Rulli, paying £4.7 million to Maldonado in Uruguay. His case was more of an investment, as he never even made his debut. Real Sociedad paid £7 million in 2017 after enjoying his loan spell.

That summer, in 2017, Ederson arrived from Benfica for €40 million. The Brazilian was a starter from his first season and has spent eight full seasons at the Etihad. Pep Guardiola's great goalkeeper, or at least the most used, according to the records.

Since then, with Ederson as the regular starter, in the following seasons he only considered signings for the role of second goalkeeper. Zack Steffen arrived from Columbus Crew in July 2019 for almost €7 million and in 2024, after loan spells at Fortuna Düsseldorf and Middlesbrough, he left on a free transfer. Thus, for that secondary role, he also brought in Scott Carson, who enjoyed several seasons, already in his thirties, of that Cityzens discipline.

In July 2022, he opted for Stefan Ortega, who at times challenged Ederson for the position, especially in the last two seasons. He arrived on a free transfer from Arminia Bielefeld. He remains at the club for the time being. Marcus Bettinelli also arrived this summer from Chelsea for £2.4 million. Initially, he was going to compete for the starting spot with James Trafford, who was signed from Burnley for £31.2 million a few months ago, but his poor performance at the start of the season and the market opportunity presented by Gigi Donnarumma led City to sign the Italian.

G. Rulli

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