Éderson, a smart signing for the new Era?
image credit: IPA | Credit: /Sipa USA
Éderson José dos Santos Lourenço da Silva, better known as Éderson has had a superb season for Atalanta helping them win the Europa League in style. Atalanta is the only team to beat Xabi’s Bayer Leverkusen this season, and that too with by a 3-0 margin. Éderson is a product of Brazilian club Corinthians who moved to Salernitana for €6.5M before his strong performances led to a move in 22/23 season to Atalanta for €21M.
During Edwards' tenure as Sporting Director at Liverpool, the club has kept a close eye on players who has impressed against them. This strategic scouting approach sometimes led to moves to sign those talented individuals. Him being 24 years old is around the same sweet spot bracket that Edwards and co used to shop in. Atalanta, needless to say was very impressive vs Liverpool in the Europa League this season, playing with man marking and a defensive press that completely suffocated the opposition. His strong performance for Atalanta has already led to a call up for Brazil NT for upcoming Copa America, and a call up for Brazil is no easy feat. There is a fear that should he continue his strong performances this summer the expected price tag around €50M or so could rise (Atalanta is owned by US based consortium led by Stephen Pagliuca, who also co owns the NBA team Boston Celtics).
For curiosity sake I wanted to take a quick look at how the data points for Éderson stacked up against one of the best midfielders under the Klopp era, Gini Wijnaldum. Éderson has an attacking aspect to his game like Gini did (when allowed the freedom), having scored 7 goals & provided an assist for Atalanta this season. In his first season for Atalanta he mostly played Central midfield, followed by attacking midfield and 6 matches in defensive midfield. In his second season he mostly played Central midfield and a dozen or so matches in defensive midfield.
I used one of Gini’s best seasons for Liverpool, the PL title winning 2019/20 season for comparison purposes. The number of League matches (only) and minutes played were not that far apart to get a rough gauge on the data points (Ederson played 2779 mins and Gini 2935 mins). I was pleasantly surprised despite Gini playing 156 mins more over the season, a lot of Ederson’s numbers are impressive. Éderson, if reports in Italy become reality, could be an astute signing to bolster the squad for the new Era.
Éderson 2023/24 Season vs Gini 2019/20 Season (Domestic League only)
Data by Stathead Fbref
Playing time:
Éderson : 2779 mins (35 matches)
Gini: 2935 mins (37 matches)
Total completed passes
Éderson : 1341
Gini: 1492
Total completed long passes
Éderson :125
Gini: 67
Shot creating actions
Éderson : 69
Gini: 55
Tackles won:
Éderson : 46/80
Gini: 20/38
Blocks:
Éderson : 47
Gini: 18
Interceptions
Éderson : 40
Gini: 17
Clearances:
Éderson : 33
Gini: 34
Take-ons success %
Éderson : 52.4%
GW: 55.4%
Ball recoveries
Éderson : 177
Gini:189
Aerial duels won %
Éderson : 58.3%
Gini: 37%