Kevin De Bruyne has revealed he will be leaving Manchester City in the summer, while the future of goalkeeper Ederson is also uncertain. And if both players depart the Etihad, City will be losing two of their best assist providers.
Incredibly, despite being a goalkeeper, Ederson has seven assists from 272 games in his Premier League career to date, with the latest coming in the thrilling come-from-behind 5-2 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday.
The Brazil international is known for his ability to play the ball out from the back, and his long pass sent midfielder James McAtee through to add City’s fourth goal. It extended his record as the goalkeeper with the most Premier League assists of all-time — former Leeds United goalkeeper Paul Robinson had five during his career.
This season alone he has contributed four assists vs. Brentford, Chelsea, Newcastle and Palace, and the record-breaking sixth came against Newcastle in February.
Ederson now has more assists than any other goalkeeper in @premierleague history (6) pic.twitter.com/N0ZL0Ra0z5
— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 15, 2025
Before that, he drew level with Robinson with this assist against Chelsea.
An incredible Ederson assist, a sublime @ErlingHaaland finish! pic.twitter.com/inTgnv5til
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 25, 2025
And here are his previous four:
All 4⃣ of Ederson’s @premierleague assists pic.twitter.com/RaLynsTZSs
— Manchester City (@ManCity) September 15, 2024
It’s clearly a good year for it, as Premier League goalkeepers have managed eight in total — tied for the most in a single season (along with 2007-08 and 1992-93).
Ederson’s career total of seven league assists is now the same as a number of current attacking players, albeit ones who have played less games, such as: Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho (87 games), Leicester’s Patson Daka (71 games) and Bournemouth’s Justin Kluivert (60 games).
Around Europe, Ederson also has no peers. In Europe’s top five leagues since 2010-11, no goalkeeper has managed more than three assists, with Yassine Bounou, Pau López, Alisson Becker, Pepe Reina, Mike Maignan and Oliver Baumann all reaching that mark.
Meanwhile, as an attacking midfielder with incredible vision and skill, De Bruyne (119 from 282 games) is second on the all-time list of assisters in the Premier League behind Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs (162 from 632) and ahead of third-placed Cesc Fabregas (111 from 350), who played for Arsenal and Chelsea.
Only two other players in Premier League history have reached over 100 assists in the competition, with Man United’s Wayne Rooney (103 from 491) and Chelsea’s Frank Lampard (102 from 609)
De Bruyne, 33, also got himself on the score sheet against Palace to net his 71st goal for the club, enough to place him tied 69th in the all-time list, ahead of Man United legend Eric Cantona (70), Liverpool’s Luis Suárez (69) and Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (69).
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