Manchester City were reportedly working on a deal to sign Bernd Leno before they sealed the transfer of Ederson.
Pep Guardiola is said to have "extensively" scouted the German keeper, who is now at Arsenal, when it became clear that Claudio Bravo's move from Barcelona was not working out.
City were said to want to sign Barcelona keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen before they agreed a move for Bravo instead.
According to a new book about title 'Pep's City: The making of a superteam,' City had a straight choice between Ederson, who was at Benfica at the time, and Leno.
Guardiola opted to sign Ederson for a £35million in 2017, with Arsenal sealing a move for Leno from Bayern Leverkusen for £22.5million just a year later.
"They both fitted the bill," sporting director Txiki Begiristain revealed.
"One was more expensive to buy, the other required a higher salary.
"I left it up to the coaches to choose."
Leno has impressed since joining Arsenal, though he has only kept two clean sheets this season - a statistic that has been troubling Unai Emery's side.
Leno has managed just one clean sheet for every five Premier League games since joining in 2018 - the worst record of any keeper to play for Arsenal.
But that tells a wider story about the defence underperforming rather than an indictment on Leno's ability.
