Fernandinho Triggers Contract Extension?
By David Crook
Manchester City fans have delighted in the performances of Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho since he joined.
Manchester City signed Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho as an attacking midfielder from Shakhtar Donetsk, which is ine thing which still comes as a surprise.
Whilst playing in Ukraine he had demonstrated his tactical fluidity by playing across a number of key positions in the team yet it took some time for him to establish himself in the City side.
The famous story which ingratiated himself to the City fans is that he paid a portion of his own transfer fee to facilitate the move to City – around €4 million. Now whether upon closer inspection that sum actually refers to a bonus he gave up, rather than a payment he made, probably does not diminish the story.
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Sunce being at City the versatility he brought probably meant that no one really knew what his best position was. At least until the arrival of Pep Guardiola in 2016.
Guardiola valued the footballing intelligence exhibited by Fernandinho and cemented him as the base of his midfield. A midfield which has dominated the Premier League in the last 2 seasons.
So important was Fernandinho to the Guardiola system, that the search for a successor occupied the City hierarchy for three transfer window, as players were scouted and dismissed.
Eventually Rodrigo was signed, but this was in the knowledge he would take some time to adapt to the way of playing. As Fernandinho age potentially restricted his appearances the plan was set for him to be used as back up centre back.
Last Summer much of the coaching of Fernandinho was based around this change of role and he accepted he would play less.
Then back in August the loss of Aymeric Laporte to injury suddenly saw Fernandinho become first choice centre back. Making up for a lack of pace with control and vision he has again become the first name on the team sheet, albeit in a completely diffetent role.
We all knew his contract was due to expire in Summer 2020 and believed he would move on, however yesterday he confirmed his existing contract has a clause containing an automatic extension if certain conditions are met. Whilst the full details are not known, these are expected to relate to appearances.
Fernandinho explained to Brazilian reporters after the victory over Manchester United that he was in negotiation with the club regarding the extension and things would be sorted soon.
dark. Next. United 1 City 3
That seems a just reward for his excellent contribution this season and I feel relaxed that we will have him as a back up option again next year! What an excellent signing he has been!