Man City star Ederson inspired by Rogerio Ceni - the goalkeeper who scored 131 times

The Brazil international admits that he idolised a Sao Paulo legend growing up and made considerable sacrifices to forge his own career

star Ederson admits to having been inspired by Rogerio Ceni, the former Sao Paulo keeper who recorded a record-setting 131 goals in his remarkable club career.

Despite filling a position between the sticks, Ceni could often be found influencing proceedings at the opposite end of the field.

Having shown himself to be the master of a dead ball, the South American legend was entrusted with penalty and free-kick duty at Sao Paulo.

A place in the history books has been locked down, with it unlikely that any other goalkeeper will ever get close to his stunning tally of goals.

Ederson will not be getting there, despite being recognised as one of the finest ball-playing keepers on the planet, with the 26-year-old boasting no goals scored to his name.

It has been suggested that he could step up from the spot for City at some stage, given the struggles endured by Pep Guardiola’s side from 12 yards this season, and he would relish the opportunity to continue following in Ceni’s footsteps.

“Rogerio Ceni has always been my inspiration,” the Blues star revealed to his club’s official website.

“When I started to play in school, I didn’t have an idol as such, I didn’t really like football in my nursery days.

“I used to go three times a week due to my brother’s influence and also because our friends used to go as well.

“So, I began to attend and started playing and after that I moved to the goal and from the moment that I started playing as a goalkeeper, I started following Rogerio Ceni.

“From that moment onwards, he became my inspiration and idol.”

Ederson has had to work hard to forge his own career as a world-class keeper, with many sacrifices made long the way.

He added on his route to the top: “It was a huge sacrifice; I remember training in Sao Paulo in the mornings. My father used to wake up at 5am to go to work and we’d leave the house at the same time, so I could go to the training sessions.

“I needed to get two buses, followed by the club’s bus and the same thing on the way back.

“Sometimes I wouldn’t even have time for lunch because I needed to go straight to school. This is what my routine looked like: training-school or school-training.

“I’d come back from school just to have dinner and go to sleep because the next day I had to do it all over again.”

Those efforts eventually earned Ederson a move to Europe, as he was snapped up by in 2009, while City invested £35 million ($43m) in his ability when bringing him onto their books in 2017.