Transfer news: Fernandinho has been one of the finest midfielders in the Prem since his arrival from Ukraine in 2013. However, at the age of 36, the Brazilian has received limited minutes due to fitness issues and the emergence of Rodri.
Having made just 11 starts this season, the midfielder has revealed his future when asked whether he would like to stay any further at Manchester.
“I don’t think so. Yes, I want to play more; I will go back to Brazil. I decided with my family, which is the most important thing for me. And some people in the club know it.”
However, Pep Guardiola reacted rather surprisingly to Fernandinho’s decision.
“I didn’t know it,” the manager said. “You gave me the news. We will see what will happen at the end of the season. I said many times we will see what happens.”
“I said at the end of the season we will talk. Maybe it is a family decision, maybe he wants more minutes. I would love to be with him.”
Guardiola suggested that Txiki Begiristain, City’s sporting director, may have known but insisted that Fernandinho revealing his future this way was nothing underhand.
“Maybe Txiki (Begiristain, City’s sporting director) knows it and didn’t tell me. I don’t know. It is a surprise for me; I will say to him [Txiki]: ‘What happened?’ But I know his [Fernandinho’s] intentions. Another player would do it for his benefit. Knowing Ferna, it will not be this.
“Absolutely. I want the happiness of my players and absolutely we are going to play tomorrow for him and give him the best farewell moment, reaching again the semi‑final of the Champions League and try to go through again.
“I understand the players want to play, it is completely understandable. Not just because he is 35 or 36. Look what happened with Ferran Torres: he wanted to play so joined Barcelona. I understand Ferna wants go back to Brazil, with his father and mother there, and I am pretty sure the club is going to help him do what he wants.”
In response to Guardiola’s surprising reaction, Fernandinho later tweeted his commitment to Manchester City.
“I was 100% honest and spontaneous in answering that question at today’s press conference. But anyone who knows me also knows that my greatest honesty is with Man City and my duties as team captain,” he tweeted.
