Manchester City planning to sign Atleti shot-stopper

TOPSHOT - Atletico Madrid's Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak stops the ball during the Spanish league football match between Villarreal CF and Club Atletico de Madrid at La Ceramica stadium in Vila-real on January 9, 2022. (Photo by JOSE JORDAN / AFP) (Photo by JOSE JORDAN/AFP via Getty Images)
TOPSHOT - Atletico Madrid's Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak stops the ball during the Spanish league football match between Villarreal CF and Club Atletico de Madrid at La Ceramica stadium in Vila-real on January 9, 2022. (Photo by JOSE JORDAN / AFP) (Photo by JOSE JORDAN/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Atletico Madrid’s La Liga title defense has been nothing like they would have hoped for. Since the start of the final leg of the season last year, Atleti’s performance has been on a decline. Last season, they were leading the race for the La Liga title by a country mile but in the end they gave Barcelona and Real Madrid a chance to write their own script.

This season is no different as Real Madrid have written their own script and Atleti seem to be out of the contention to retain their La Liga title this time around. The Rojiblancos instead, are battling it out for a UEFA Champions League spot.

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Jan Oblak has been one of the major talking points when it comes to the reigning Spanish champions. Oblak has not really hit the ground running and statistically, he is the worst goalkeeper in the La Liga this season. This is in total contrast to his performance the last term.

The Slovenian has made only 21 saves this term and has conceded 1.20 goals per match (fbref).

As per the Spanish outlet Todofichajes, City are said to be lining up a €90 million move for Oblak, given his recent struggles.

While Todofichajes is a third-tier source with a questionable degree of reliability, it would be interesting to see how this develops. €90 million is too big an amount to spend on Jan Oblak when the Cityzens already have a world-class keeper in Ederson.

Ederson has been City’s number one keeper since his arrival and there is no argument that can counter his effectiveness between the sticks.

The Brazilian keeper has made 166 appearances for the Cityzens in the Premier League and has kept a clean sheet in half of them (83). This is a staggering stat for any goal-keeper and is just a testament to how good he is.

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There is no doubt that if City do end up signing Oblak (highly unlikely), he will be the second-choice keeper to Ederson and there cannot be two ways around it. Pep Guardiola likes to have keepers who are good with the ball at their feet and Ederson has proven that he is the right man for the job, time and again.

Simply put, the €90 million would be better invested in Erling Haaland or Declan Rice, both of whom are ones for the future. City are said to be gearing up for the transfer race to sign Haaland next summer and are tipped to go all-out.