What will Fernandinho offer Manchester City?
£30million for a 28-year-old, I hear you say. It sounds like a very risky investment but with Manchester City’s money, fees such as this don’t matter that much. What matters is that they sign the right players who will fit into their system and there is little doubt that Fernandinho can be a much better partner for Yaya Toure than either Gareth Barry or Javi Garcia, who are both very one-paced.
Not only will the Brazilian with just five caps to his name offer City plenty of Champions League experience but his style will suit the Premier League to a tee. He has appeared in over 30 Champions League ties for Shakhtar during his eight-year spell with the Ukrainian giants. He won six domestic titles, four domestic cups and a UEFA Cup in 2009 in the Ukraine and has stated that a move to England has been his dream.
Fernandinho is a player who won’t be that well-known to the average English football fan who have just seen glimpses of him in Champions League ties. The Brazilian is a box-to-box midfielder who can not only break up attacks but can run past players much like Ramires can at Chelsea. The difference between Fernandinho and Ramires is that the former has a better passing range and is more reliable when the ball is at his feet. He possesses a fantastic engine and used to be an attacking midfielder but was pushed back to central midfield by Shakhtar and is now very capable of playing in a double-pivot role alongside Toure at City.
Ignore Jamie Redknapp. It is only June, so Fernandinho is by no means the ‘signing of the summer’ and probably won’t be by August due to his large fee but there is no doubt that he is just what City are looking for because their midfield area has been a weakness this season. With Jesus Navas and a new manager likely to follow the Brazilian to the Etihad, Man City already look like they mean business next season.
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