Much like Ederson, Aro Muric – who should make his Manchester City debut on Tuesday - was never a goalkeeper. He has only been playing the position eight years and even that was an idea spawned by a family member rather than a professional.

But Oxford United’s Kassam Stadium could be Muric’s big break between the sticks, Pep Guardiola seriously considering throwing the 19-year-old in for the Carabao Cup tie.

He was on loan at NAC Breda when Claudio Bravo ruptured his Achilles last month, playing only one game in the Eredivisie. Guardiola and his goalkeeping coach, Xabi Mancisidor, had wanted Muric to play regular football but instead of signing a new understudy to cope with Bravo’s absence, sent for the teenager.

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Manchester City's teenage keeper Aro Muric is primed to make his debut at Oxford on Tuesday

Muric is a character and, even though he was sent off for a headbutt last season, his reputation has soared at City since joining from Grasshopper Zurich almost three years ago to the day. A move to England could have been very different, however.

A week’s trial was organised at both City and Manchester United in 2015. Muric was at Carrington for five days and after the first of those, with the Under 18s, he was asked to train with Louis van Gaal’s first-team goalkeepers during an international break. Van Gaal’s renowned coach Frans Hoek, formerly of Holland and now at Galatasaray, was impressed.

Hoek wanted him back for another couple of weeks afterwards, where training alongside David De Gea would have materialised, but Muric had made his mind up. He felt at home at City, building a rapport with academy coaches Max Johnson and Andy Mulliner. Luckily for him, that week was enough for City to decide they wanted him permanently too.

Muric was sent off for a headbutt on international duty last season but has impressed at City

Muric – born in Switzerland but with international allegiance recently pledged to Kosovo - has not looked back since. He owns Kosovan, Montenegrin and Swiss passports, with his family coming from a number of countries split from Yugoslavia.

He might stand at 6ft 5in and fills the goal – a slow-motion clip of one save made in training last week emphasised the goalkeeper’s frame - but Guardiola has claimed his footwork is so nimble that the youngster could even play as a central defender.

Muric owns the fearlessness of Ederson, often seen throwing his head at the feet of strikers, and has learned Guardiola’s offensive style – with significant emphasis placed on positioning when City have the ball and the timing of his rushing – under Mancisidor and Richard Wright.

Muric was on loan at NAC at the start of the season but got recalled after Claduio Bravo's injury

His relationship with the two first-team goalkeeping coaches is described as exceptionally good and to act as a No 2 this season is a real feather in his cap given City’s wealth. Muric’s work ethic is labelled ‘crazy’ and relentlessly hitting the gym in a bid to bulk up has staved off any potential for loneliness in his city-centre apartment. Similarly to De Gea, he arrived in England as a slender giant but now looks like a specimen.

That much was obvious in a game for Montenegro Under 21s last October when he fiercely headbutted Slovenia’s Martin Kramaric. It was a shocking blow, a straight red card, and Muric beat himself up about it immediately after in the dressing room, vowing never to be provoked quite so easily again. Those who know him at City were surprised by his tempestuous reaction.

It was not the reaction of someone so worldly, who largely shuns beach holidays to travel across Europe visiting family instead. Both his father, Samir, and mother Edita – an insurance advisor – are coming to him this time, travelling over from Zurich with agent Stephan Kallass just in case he plays.