Manchester United’s pursuit of Atalanta midfielder Ederson has hit a major stumbling block.
The Premier League club had struck a £35m agreement for the Brazilian on 2 June.
Plans were in place for Ederson to undergo a medical at the beginning of July, allowing the move to be wrapped up before the squad returned for pre-season training.
Those arrangements were torn up, however, when the 27-year-old received a surprise late call into Carlo Ancelotti’s World Cup selection.
The expectation was that Ederson would complete his medical following Brazil’s exit from the tournament. United insiders privately reaffirmed this timeline when initial speculation surfaced last weekend that the transfer was being abandoned.
Brazil have since been eliminated by Norway, yet while Chelsea’s Andrey Santos and former Leeds goalkeeper Karl Darlow are both closing in on their own switches to Old Trafford — with deals for each agreed within the last two days — there has been silence regarding Ederson’s situation.
Sources have indicated that medical checks have flagged a concern, with one informing a major sports news outlet that the transfer has collapsed.
Officials from both teams, however, are pushing back against that narrative, insisting no final call has been made on the move. Ederson is understood to still be in the United States.
Should the deal ultimately fall apart, it would represent the latest blow in what is proving to be a trying summer for the Old Trafford side.
After securing third place last season, United made strengthening their midfield the top priority ahead of a return to Champions League football following a two-year absence.
Their hopes of landing primary target Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest, though, were dashed when the England international’s price tag soared to £116m — a sum United were not prepared to meet.
Attention then turned to Mateus Fernandes. A change of leadership at West Ham, however, reduced the pressure to sell quickly, and once Tottenham entered the race for the Portugal international, it became clear to United that the eventual £85m fee was far above what they had anticipated. United did table an offer of the same amount, but with add-ons included, and Fernandes opted to join Tottenham.
In theory, Ederson had already been secured by that point, meaning some recruitment was already in place before this week’s agreements for Santos and Darlow were struck.
Now, supporters are left in limbo, waiting to learn whether the Ederson deal will be finalised.
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