Fernandinho gets his wish and joins Manchester City from Shakhtar Donetsk
Manchester City will issue another statement of intent in their quest to regain the Premier League title by completing the signing of Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho.
A day after Seville announced a deal to sell Spanish winger Jesús Navas to City in a deal that could rise to £22million, the English club are close to confirming another eye-catching acquisition.
City tracked Shakhtar Donetsk Fernandinho all season and the 28-year-old had made it clear he wished to move to the Etihad to improve his chances of breaking into Brazil’s World Cup squad.
His club inserted a buy-out clause of £42.5million, which was £15million above City’s initial valuation, but it is understood negotiations have significantly progressed and a compromise has been reached to allow Fernandinho to become the latest player to join the Manuel Pellegrini era before the manager is even in place.
Fernandinho caught the eye for the Ukrainians in the Champions League — he scored against Chelsea in the group stages — and has been outspoken in his desire for the move to be completed. Earlier this month he suggested Shakhtar were asking for too much money for his services and feared the buy-out clause would prove an obstacle.
“The day I signed, the club’s director guaranteed me that was normal with his players, and that in a transfer, we could negotiate and reach an agreement on the price,” he said. “I trusted them, and I didn’t think about the consequences it would bring me in the future. My dream is being threatened because of the high valuation.”
That issue would now appear resolved, with Shakhtar having prepared for the loss of Fernandinho and Liverpool target Henrikh Mkhitaryan by signing two Brazil internationals: Wellington Nem of Fluminense, and Fernando of Gremio for a combined £18million.
City have not yet confirmed Pellegrini’s appointment — it appears to be a formality – but being without a manager is not preventing their activity in the transfer market. Evidently they have heeded the lessons of a static start to business under Roberto Mancini this time last year, which played a major part in such a timid title defence. Mancini felt City’s failure to sign Robin van Persie enabled Manchester United to regain the initiative before a ball was kicked last summer.
With director of football Txiki Begiristain leading the player recruitment process, Pellegrini can anticipate plenty of fresh blood to try to mould into another Premier League-winning team.
Navas and Fernandinho’s arrival will signify City’s evolution from a methodical unit under Mancini to a more attractive side under Pellegrini.
The likelihood of further reinforcements suggests City are not intent on limiting their spending power in the light of the new Financial Fair Play regulations. They are evidently confident of raising funds through player sales and commercial ventures to keep within the boundaries of the rules.
Having being set the target of five trophies in five years, at least Pellegrini can depend on the same economic muscle that benefited his predecessors.
Navas, joining for an initial £17million, has overcome a serious anxiety disorder to become the Premier League’s latest exciting Spanish import. He suffered from chronic homesickness earlier in his career, a problem that delayed his international career.
The 27-year-old has surmounted those issues, but it is widely acknowledged that his global profile would have emerged sooner but for difficulties that first became prominent as a teenager.
Only as recently as 2009, in the build-up to the World Cup in South Africa, was the right winger finally able to deal with the stresses and strains of being away from home.
He once left Seville’s training camps event though it was based just 60 miles from home, and once walked out of the Spanish Under-19s camp because of homesickness.
In 2008, his brother Marco — also a professional footballer – explained how Jesus was working with a psychologist to overcome the problem caused by spending prolonged periods away from home.
At the time, there were concerns the midfielder would be unable to join the Spain squad for that World Cup, having just made himself unavailable for successive international fixtures.
“Not even Jesus knows what his real problem is,” Marco said. “The question is in the hands of doctors. It is serious. He is shy and it overwhelms him to be so known in Seville and he is not comfortable when in the centre of the stage. We must be very careful and not put him under the slightest pressure.
“One of the things that makes my brother happy is playing football. He feels very comfortable with what he does. He wants to play for the Spanish team, but there are barriers that still have to be overcome.”
However, City’s new City signing finally felt in control of the problem ahead of the tournament and returned to the international game. “To play for your country is the greatest thing and I hope to be able to, too,” he said at the time. “Playing in the World Cup is the best thing a player can do. I have to be calm and make my decision. I have to continue taking the right steps.”
That seemed a turning point as there have been no incidents since. Now the player has taken a decision that would have been too difficult for him five years ago – to play abroad full-time.
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