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For the first time since signing for the club in 2017, Ederson could face competition for the No.1 spot at Manchester City next season.

Having controversially brought Claudio Bravo from Barcelona to replace fan favourite Joe Hart during his first season at the club, Pep Guardiola made a big statement by bringing in the uncapped Brazilian Ederson less than a year later for £35m - a figure that could be argued to have been a world record for a goalkeeper depending on your view on exchange rates and the money Juventus paid for Gianluigi Buffon back in 2001.

Ederson’s value at the Etihad was undisputed from his arrival, and was rewarded with a bumper new contract at the end of his first season. A serious injury to Bravo the following season only enhanced the 26-year-old’s position further but when the Chilean leaves this summer there is set to be fresh competition.

Aro Muric, who deputised for Bravo in the 2018/19 season, has had a frustrating season out on loan at Nottingham Forest but more promising has been Zack Steffen, a 24-year-old American stopper that City made the most expensive keeper in MLS history in 2019 in a deal that could rise to £8m.

If Steffen is yet to make his mark on this side of the Atlantic, those close to him have known since he was a teenager that he was set for great things.

Alex Crognale has known the goalkeepers since they were college freshmen together in 2013 playing for the Maryland Terrapins. Dubbed the Gentle Giants by teammates, they hit it off immediately.

“I'm a centre-back so with him being the goalkeeper it was kind of a natural pairing and he's just an all-round good guy,” Crognale told M.E.N Sport. “A family man, someone who will go out of his way for you but on the pitch he's a different beast, a different animal. He wants to win games, he wants to help you as a centre-back.

“Everyone around him knows that he has got all the talent, he's a great player, he works really hard but he's just a down-to-earth good guy, good friend to have and that's what I think drew myself to him.”

Those who watched Steffen play saw it as a matter of when rather than if he turned professional, and sure enough having been named the most outstanding defensive player in his first run at a prestigious college tournament he earned a move to German club Freiburg after his second year of college soccer.

The move didn’t work out, and being so far away from his family was tough, but somebody else had seen enough from his displays for Maryland to offer the goalkeeper a route back to the US.

US men’s national team (USMNT) coach Gregg Berhalter enjoyed a 15-year playing career in Europe including spells at Sparta Rotterdam, Crystal Palace and Energie Cottbus before retiring in 2011 after two years with LA Galaxy.

He had recently taken over as sporting director and head coach of MLS side Columbus Crew when he came across the young shotstopper.

“Zack played in the university system in America and he was someone that we saw, he caught our eye immediately, watching him perform at that level,” explained Berhalter. “They made it to the final four of the college tournament so we were able to see his quality. When he went to Frieburg, he's someone that we just kept tabs on. We knew he had this big potential so we just kept monitoring him.

“When you look at his profile, it's exciting. He's really quick, he's good with his feet, he's good in the air.

“He's got a lot of tools so I can certainly see why the German club was interested in signing him. The typical route is to go to MLS but there are more examples of American players going direct to Europe.”

Berhalter knew that Steffen would not be back in the US permanently but sold him the idea of moving to Columbus where he could earn a starting place and eventually earn another shot at a dream move.

With a performance-related contract, the youngster impressed with his attitude by initially going on loan to second-division side Pittsburgh Riverhounds to work on his game and then did not look back after being given the No.1 spot at Columbus for the 2017 season. He featured in an MLS All-Star side against Juventus the following year and was later named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, at which point English teams had begun to take notice.

An outstanding display for the USMNT in a friendly against France a month before they would go on to win the World Cup - including excellent saves to deny Paul Pogba, Nabil Fekir and Ousmane Dembele - helped cement his place in the national team, which he has maintained since Berhalter took the reins after leaving Columbus.

“The important thing with Zack, and what I've always appreciated with him, is he doesn't get fazed by the moment,” said Berhalter. “He can be playing in big games and do his job really well. He stays calm, he stays grounded, he stays focused, he doesn't let the big moment get to him and that's what you want from a goalkeeper. He's playing in his first play-off game, for example, at Atlanta United in front of 70,000 people and it's no problem he has a great game.

“Bristol City made an offer for him [in 2018] but we had a certain valuation on him. For us, it wasn't close to being met. It was the environment too and the potential, the plan for him.

“As soon as we signed him the plan was to eventually re-sell him. That was the partnership that we had. We said we know you're coming here and here's our goal, we want to improve you, we want you to perform for us and we want to eventually resell you. The timeline was actually really good.”

“City talked to us in depth about how they see him progressing throughout their system so for us it was a move that made sense.”

Steffen has made a successful return to Germany this season on loan at Fortuna Dusseldorf, even with a few injury problems limiting his game time.

Coaches weren’t convinced he would get enough time with the ball at his feet but did think the Bundesliga side would see his shot-stopping abilities tested regularly; 10 saves in a man-of-the-match performance on debut suggested the move was promising and Fortuna sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel is on record saying he can become one of the top keepers in Europe.

With Bravo set to leave City at the end of the season, Steffen looks to be in an ideal position to take over as the club’s No.2.

Ederson remains a phenomenal keeper to challenge for a starting spot, but the 6’3” US stopper has shown throughout his career to date he is up for a challenge.

Crognale reunited with his fellow gentle giant from college days at Columbus Crew, with his parents putting his friend up as he settled back into the country. The defender, currently playing for Birmingham Legion, has not been surprised at the continuing rise of a player that has stood out at every level he has played.

“He won MLS goalkeeper of the year at 23 to become the best goalie in your league at such an early age. There's room to improve your environment so it was great he decided to go and there's no better team than City,” he said.

“In my experience from watching him and following him over the years, he assumes the level where he's at and that's how he's been.

“Coming into the national team at a young age, he took the No.1 jersey and he has been there since. I've known him forever so I'm never going to say that I don't think he can play at any level and I think he can - whether that's next year or two or three years from now - but I know he has the talent and mindset to get there so it's just a matter of time.”