Atalanta’s Ederson: What the midfielder can offer at Manchester United

From bringing Javier Pastore and Paulo Dybala to Serie A and then playing a key role in the careers of Mo Salah, Alisson, Marquinhos and Antonio Rudiger, Sabatini’s contributions to Calcio have been invaluable. The Italian’s last job as a sporting director came at Salernitana in 2022. The Campania club found themselves in the botton three and days before Sabatini’s arrival, they had avoided the possibility of going into administration.

The new sporting director had a job to do and he went about it ruthlessly, making major signings in the middle of the season to avoid the drop. That is when the Granata shelled out €6m on Ederson, who arrived from Corinthians, months after spending a loan at Fortaleza. He could never quite become a regular at Corinthians but became a key player for Fortaleza, playing mainly in a double pivot.

The move to Salernitana raised eyebrows but Ederson took no time in making a mark. He played 15 times in the second half of the campaign, scoring two goals and becoming a central figure in helping Salernitana somehow avoid relegation. They finished with only 31 points, which is the lowest points total a club has needed to avoid relegation in Serie A history.

Ederson’s strengths The Brazilian became a glue that kept the side together, taking position as the tireless worker in a midfield three of a pragmatic 3-5-2 setup under Davide Nicola. His workrate stood out but on the ball, he came across as adept at receiving between the lines, carrying the ball forward and breaking lines through movement and progression. This dynamism caught the attention of Gian Piero Gasperini and Atalanta came forward for Ederson just six months after he first moved to Italy.