Citizens fans say final goodbye to Fernandinho, Phillips to take his place

Fernandinho is bidding farewell to Manchester City after 9 years and is expected to join Athletico Paranaense, which he will sign for two years, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano. His place will be taken at the Etihad Stadium by Kalvin Phillips, whose great performances at Leeds United earned him a place in the national team.

Before Fernandinho headed to England, he collected trophies with Shakhtar Donetsk. 7 league titles in 8 years at the club. He added 8 more trophies from the Ukrainian Cup and Super Cup and in the 2008/09 season Shakhtar dominated the Europa League.

However, a move to Manchester already followed in the summer of 2013 when the Light Blues paid €40 million for him. After 9 years of the Brazilian midfielder’s tenure at the Etihad Stadium, one can’t argue anything other than that this amount was an incredibly good investment.

Fernandinho may have missed out on the very first league title of this century (2011/12, the previous 1936/37 and 1967/68), but he hasn’t missed out on the other five. The only thing he’s 99% sure he won’t get anymore is the Champions League, which still eludes Manchester City.

Thus, the comprehensive Brazilian midfielder’s stats at the Citizens stop at 383 games played, 26 goals scored and 33 assists. Now it’s time to return to where the five left from in 2005, Brazilian side Athletico Paranaense.

Fernandinho’s replacement? Kalvin Phillips is tested by both England and Bielsa’s style!

Phillips captivated the Premier League immediately after Leeds United’s return to England’s top competition, which also earned him a place in the national team, where he notably played a big part in Albion’s route to the Euro finals, unfortunately for them, the Italians were the luckier team after the penalty shootout.

The following season, however, was not so successful for Phillips and co. The 26-year-old midfielder played only 23 games as he laboured with a muscle injury from November to March and Leeds themselves were worried about their salvation until the last few rounds.

The Englishman with Jamaican roots is currently under contract with Leeds United until 2024. However, according to Fabrizio Romano, his transfer to Manchester City is already a done deal.

For Pep Guardiola, it’s practically a safe bet to bring in an already experienced player who has been brought up by the tough English football, and has also worked under Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa, whose style is surely familiar to everyone.

But Fernandinho’s leadership skills will have to be taken up by others.

Source: Fabrizio Romano, Transfermarkt, Goal