Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany believes that it is "inevitable" that at least one of Ederson or Stefan Ortega will leave the Etihad Stadium this summer.
Both goalkeepers will soon be entering the final year of their contract at the club and have endured patchy runs of form when called upon by Pep Guardiola this season.
Ederson has established himself as one of the best goalkeepers in world football during his eight-year spell at the Etihad Stadium, where he has won six Premier League titles and three Golden Gloves.
However, the 31-year-old's form has dipped this term and he has conceded 44 goals in 29 games across all competitions, keeping just seven clean sheets; the Brazilian most recently made a costly error that led to Nottingham Forest's 1-0 win over Man City in the Premier League last weekend.
Ortega, meanwhile, impressed when called upon at the back end of last season and has since played 15 times for Man City in all tournaments this term, but the 32-year-old German has also struggled at times between the sticks, keeping just four clean sheets.
Recent reports claim that there is a 'strong possibility' that Ederson will leave Man City amid interest from clubs in the Saudi Pro League, while Ortega's long-term future is also thought to be uncertain.
'I wouldn't be surprised if Ortega's pushing for a move away'
Speaking to Sports Mole, McInerney said: "It feels inevitable that one of them is going to leave. All the writing is on the wall. There is enough noise around the pair of them.
"It feels like Ortega's not had the season that he might have wanted. He ended last season on a bit of a high. There was a bit of contention around Ederson's future. I think it was very obvious that Ederson's nose was knocked out of place because Ortega got the number one shirt for a little bit and did really well.
"Ortega was given a new contract (last summer) and I feel like he felt it could be possible that he'd get a lot of game time this season. It's not really happened for whatever reason. Ortega's had a pretty tough season by his own standards. For the last year or two, he's looked like the best backup keeper we've had full stop. He looked like a number one potentially.
"Debatable whether he was Ederson's level, but he clearly looked good enough to be a Premier League goalkeeper, but he struggled this season to be honest. He's made a few mistakes, his shot-stopping hasn't been quite as good as it was.
"Ortega seems smart and I wouldn't be surprised if he's pushing potentially for a move away... there are rumours that he wants to play international football (and to earn that) his best bet is first-team football somewhere (at club level).
"He doesn't even have to play for City to get international recognition. Playing for pretty much any Europa League side would be enough for him to get the credentials and he might fancy moving on (this summer)."
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"It's going to be quite a dramatic change if Ederson moves on"
On Ederson, McInerney added: "It's a complicated one. He didn't really hide the fact that he wanted to go to the Saudi League last summer. There was a lot of money offered, but apparently it wasn't enough. City decided they wanted more than that and he ended up staying.
"It felt (he stayed) begrudgingly, but he still picked up and he's had a pretty decent season. There's the odd mistake in him as we saw in the Forest game. Ultimately, I feel like his story's coming to an end it just depends if it's going to be this summer or the next. The writing feels on the wall for me right now.
"The problem is he's such a unique keeper, regardless of his occasional weakness in shot-stopping, there is no-one that enables how Guardiola wants to play better than Ederson in world football, so it's going to be quite a dramatic change if he moves on.
"We've seen plenty of examples of what Ederson can do. He's broken the assist record in the Premier League for a goalkeeper, and that unique ability essentially has been the catalyst for City to be so successful and how they play for the best part of a decade under Guardiola.
"Ederson is sort of one-on-one given how he plays, so it'll be interesting to see how City approach (the summer transfer market), but there's a real good chance that one, if not two, (of Ederson and Ortega) will push for a move this summer."
A host of goalkeepers from across Europe have been linked with a move to Man City should either one, or both, of Ederson and Ortega leave the club, including Porto's Diogo Costa and AC Milan's Mike Maignan.
A recent report from TBR Football claimed that City have also been impressed by Espanyol's Joan Garcia, Lille's Lucas Chevalier, Benfica's Anatoliy Trubin and Parma's Zion Suzuki, who are all aged 23 and under.
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Who could Man City target if Ederson or Ortega leave?
Discussing what profile of goalkeeper City could target if Ederson or Ortega were to leave, McInerney said: "They obviously have to have a certain level of character, a certain level of confidence with the ball at their feet.
"I would expect City are going for a keeper who would be at the start of their career - 22-23 years old. I suspect there'll be ones that Guardiola feels he can mould a little bit and that could be there for the best part of a decade.
"I don't think you sign a goalkeeper with the idea of them being replaced in five years. I don't think it's what the top clubs do. They just have a keeper as a number one for an awful long time.
"Man United had [David] De Gea for years, we know how good [Thibaut] Courtois has been at Real Madrid for the past multiple seasons, [Manuel] Neuer (at Bayern Munich), you want that rock who's going to be a keeper for a long time.
"So I think the age profile is right here, it just depends how good they are with the feet. I'm not expecting anyone to be good as Ederson, because he truly is special at that, but I still think there's a compromise to be had.
"There are plenty of keepers who play for sides who to keep the ball really well who maybe don't have the quality of Ederson with the ball at his feet, like [Bart] Verbruggen for example at Brighton, they play such an aggressive possession style, I wouldn't say he's quite as good as Ederson, but he's more than good enough because it works for them.
"I do want someone who's a world-class shot-stopper. Ederson's a really good shot-stopper but he isn't a great shot-stopper and over the years I've grown frustrated by watching Courtois just be ridiculous against Man City in the Champions League. It happens all the time, pulling off saves that others would find impossible.
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"It would be nice to have a little bit of an X-factor in goal in terms of shot prevention, because Ederson hasn't been the best at that and I would even take a slight trade-off with ball quality at his feet and all that kind of stuff if we had a keeper who would truly, truly do something special with difficult shots. Ederson occasionally has those moments, but I wouldn't say he's consistent enough on that front."
Could Ortega become City's No.1 if Ederson leaves?
Discussing whether Ortega could become City's new number one if Ederson were to leave, McInerney said: "I don't think Ortega will be number one personally. I don't think he's won Guardiola's trust this season, so I do think [City will spend] big money on a potential number one.
"If City get a young keeper in, even if they cost a lot of money, there is still the potential for Ortega to be number one if the young keeper doesn't settle straight away. You've still got the experienced keeper there who knows how to play who's also settled as a backup if it doesn't go smoothly.
"That could be the temptation for Ortega to give it a go (and stay) because they're going to bring in someone who isn't Ederson. Ederson is absolutely 100% City's number one, nailed on. Whoever comes in, be it Mike Maignan, Costa or any of these other lads like Chevalier, Suzuki or whoever, they've got to prove themselves.
"They won't come in guaranteed to start and if they struggle a little bit, Ortega will get that shirt because he's there, he is trusted (to some extent) even if he hasn't shown he's fully 100% ready to take the number one shirt. He would get it in a crisis or if the young lad who came in struggled a bit.
"I think that's probably the smarter way to go about it personally. You're paying for a number one, but if you get him young, there's time, there there's no rush. You've got the experienced keeper in Ortega, while at the same time you'd be planning for the future, so I think that's probably the best way to go about it."
Press play on the video at the top of this article to hear the full discussion.
Oliver Thomas
