Summer hunt for a No 1 after Bravo gaffes

MANCHESTER CITY will be in the market for a new goalkeeper this summer as the pressure grows on under-fire Claudio Bravo. The Chile international was beaten by all four shots he faced at Everton on Sunday as City’s Premier League title hopes were dealt a hammer blow in Pep Guardiola’s worst defeat as a coach. Bravo has been criticised for his performances since signing from Barcelona for £15.4million in August, following Guardiola’s decision to offload Joe Hart. With second-choice Willy Caballero expected to leave when his contract runs out at the end of the season, City must decide whether to sign another understudy to Bravo or bring in a new No 1 ahead of him. The club have a £13.2m buyback option on Geronimo Rulli, the 24year-old Argentine who joined City for £4m last summer but was sold to Real Sociedad after a loan spell there. They have also monitored Benfica No 1 Ederson and Sunderland’s England Under-21 international Jordan Pickford. It is understood Barcelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen was Guardiola’s first choice before he signed Bravo from his old club. The Chilean was brought to the Etihad for his distribution skills but has come under fire for his shot-stopping ability. Of the last 22 shots he has faced, Bravo has conceded 14 goals. England keeper Hart, who is under contract at City until 2019, will return in the summer from his season-long loan at Torino but is unlikely to have any future under Guardiola. City will be looking to strengthen in a number of other positions this summer as Guardiola aims to make up to six new signings. He will bring in at least one centre-half, with the club continuing to be linked with Southampton duo Virgil van Dijk and Jose Fonte, as well as Athletic Bilbao’s Aymeric Laporte. City are also expected to sign two fullbacks, although Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is unlikely to entertain offers for Kyle Walker and Danny Rose. A striker and midfielder will also be on Guardiola’s shopping list after he all but conceded the title following the 4-0 defeat at Goodison Park. City trail leaders Chelsea by ten points but midfielder Yaya Toure believes they can still be contenders if they beat second-placed Tottenham at home on Saturday, saying: ‘It is tough sometimes but we just have to win a couple of games and everything will come back again.’