How weeks of work came down to the wire as City finally bought some clarity

IT summed up the final few weeks of City’s summer transfer window that Gianluigi Donnarumma had to undergo a medical in Italy to complete a deal that was first seriously mooted almost three weeks ago.

- By TYRONE MARSHALL

Donnarumma’s arrival as City’s new No. 1 and Ederson’s departure have been in the works for so long that it felt surprising that they were still being finalised late on Monday night, with City having to submit a deal sheet to the Premier League to prove all was in order with the Italian’s arrival by the 7pm deadline.

While other clubs gradually got their announcements out as the clock ticked on, City remained silent. The deals were done, but confirmation of them only arrived on Tuesday morning.

It was the second week of August when City ramped up talks for Donnarumma, spotting a market opportunity after Luis Enrique ostracised him at Paris St-Germain. That came at a point when Galatasaray were still sniffing around Ederson, who had been expected to see out the final year of his Etihad contract.