3 players who can replace Fernandinho at Manchester City
Fernando Luiz Roza, or simply Fernandinho, is a defensive midfielder who was signed for €30 million from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2013 by Manchester City's former manager Manuel Pellegrini. Since then he has made over 170 appearances for The Citizens and has been the main man at the centre of their midfield.
Fernandinho is now 33 and even though he looks fitter and better than ever, he can't go on forever. Txiki Begiristain has a huge task in hand to find the perfect fit for Pep Guardiola's team. Manchester City were heavily linked to Jorginho last summer but the move couldn't happen due to several reasons and he ended up at City's title rivals Chelsea.
The Candidates
#1 Frenkie De Jong
City have been recently linked to the 21-year-old Dutch midfielder from Ajax. He can play as a ball-carrying centre-back, as a #6 or as an #8. Although interest is high for the player who can reach the heights of the legendary attacking midfielder and one of the best ever manager Johan Cruyff, City are the favourites to land the Dutchman.
Frenkie is not open to a move in January and therefore City might either approach Ajax in the January transfer window and then loan him out to Ajax for the rest of the season or wait till the Summer. Barcelona are City's main competition as the player has revealed his wish to play with arguably the greatest player of all time - Lionel Messi but rejecting Pep Guardiola is not easy.
City also have the financial strength to pay him more wages than Barcelona. His stats are also one of the best in Europe, a 91.8% pass success rate this year in 20 appearances and 54 out of 58 dribbles completed last year which resulted in an unreal rate of 3.12 successful ones per 90 minutes played, are Messi-esque numbers. According to the Mirror, Ajax have set a hefty asking price of 75 Million for the midfielder.