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At City’s training ground, Carrington, ahead of Monday’s first league game of the season, at home to Newcastle United, Fernandinho provides compelling evidence of that “open soul”. Here is a 28-year-old who waived £4 million in fees and bonuses owed to him by the Ukrainian club in order to finally make the move to the Premier League. He asks: “Why should people be surprised by that? Maybe England should have more players who don’t only think of money If I only wanted money and a comfortable life from my career, I would have stayed in the Ukraine.”
Here, also, is a player who reveals that Chelsea tried to sign him this summer and Tottenham Hotspur had made efforts last year. And here is a Brazilian international — albeit one who had made puzzlingly few appearances — who can declare that part of his mission is to change “the perception that people have over here about the way Brazilians play. A lot of Brazilians have played in the Premier League, with mixed results.” City fans will concur with that with a collective shudder, recalling the big-money failures of Robinho and Jo.
But Fernandinho is cut from a different cloth, not least because with his high-energy, positive, robust style he is part of a new breed of Brazilians ideally suited to the physical demands of European football and, it would appear, England in particular.
There is relish in his voice when he considers his move to City. “I came here to win,” says the man who is used to serial achievement — six league titles in eight years in Ukraine with that country’s richest club and who now wants to win more with England’s wealthiest.
“Of course, I will be paid as a professional footballer, but the only thing I am greedy for is success,” Fernandinho explains. “In my country we say that football is like a huge plate of food — well, I want to eat everything because I want to win every trophy that I can for City.”
Fernandinho was hungry in Donetsk, the mining town dominated by the futuristic Donbass Arena and propped up by the millions invested by oligarch Rinat Akhmetov. That hunger was literal on one occasion with Fernandinho recalling the bitterly-cold winter day when his craving for a Brazilian barbecue led to him hurriedly buying and then setting up an electric grill in the garage of his home.
“It was a desperate situation I was in at the time,” he says. “I was desperate to have a barbecue, I love eating meat from a barbecue and it was so long since I had had one. The only place I could have one was in the garage so I had it in there. It was so cold I couldn’t go outside. I moved the cars out, put the central heating on. It was nice, actually.”
It also demonstrated Fernandinho’s ability to adapt. He is not the only Brazilian to make the journey to Donetsk — Bernard is the latest import — but he stayed longer than most. “What I did there was to work hard — and I achieved what I achieved. It’s what I have to do everywhere I go,” he says.
It could have been Chelsea, rather than City — “I know there were negotiations between Shakhtar and Chelsea,” Fernandinho says — but the Ukrainian club, interestingly, “made it clear” they would prefer to sell to City. “Shakhtar told me they had refused an offer,” he says. “There was also a stage a year ago when I spoke to people from Tottenham, but nothing came of that.”
Instead Spurs signed Paulinho this year and the pair are rivals for a place in Luiz Felipe Scolari’s World Cup squad. Fernandinho — as Willian found before him — realises that playing in Ukraine lessened his chances of international football.
“I decided that I had to leave Ukraine to play in a strong league that would help me get the attention of the people in charge of the Brazilian national team,” he says.
Fernandinho has consistently shown a willingness to adapt. He speaks four languages — Portuguese, Russian, Italian and Spanish — and is quickly picking up English although this interview was understandably conducted through a translator. Still he does not feel the need for lessons — “I find the best way to learn a new language is to talk to people” — and having left home when he was 17 and quit Brazil when he was 20, he shrugs off any concerns over settling.
“Every time I put football at the forefront,” Fernandinho says. “That’s the reason.”
Already his three-year-old son sleeps with a football. “I think it’s genetic within my family,” Fernandinho declares of the love of the game and his days growing up in the district of Londrina (‘Little London’) in southern Brazil. “Since I was a child we used flip-flops or bricks to mark the goal-posts and that was it — we’d have our pitch on the street.” City was not a hard sell. And Fernandinho’s arrival, under new manager Manuel Pellegrini, was soon followed by Alvaro Negredo, Jesus Navas and Stefan Jovetic — close to £100 million of signings — representing huge intent.
“The club already has a high name around the world,” Fernandinho says. “I think City is on the way up there, to be at a similar level to [Manchester] United. We saw that in the summer when we went on tour — we had loads of supporters there. It’s going to be a huge club.”
And what will Fernandinho contribute? “I like to have the ball at my feet a lot,” he says with Pellegrini indicating he will be part of a powerful central midfield pivot alongside Yaya Touré.
“I aim to help my team-mates by making assists and, of course I like to score goals. I also understand that I have a responsibility to try to stop the other team, so marking and tackling are just as important to my game. I feel well suited to the game that is played in the Premier League.”
That has not always been the case with his countrymen. “I know that many Brazilians haven’t been well thought of in England because of the different style of play here,” Fernandinho says.
“A lot of Brazilians have played in the Premier League, with mixed results. Will I be different? Well, personally speaking, I think one of my biggest qualities is my consistency I am a balanced footballer.” And a balanced person
Here, also, is a player who reveals that Chelsea tried to sign him this summer and Tottenham Hotspur had made efforts last year. And here is a Brazilian international — albeit one who had made puzzlingly few appearances — who can declare that part of his mission is to change “the perception that people have over here about the way Brazilians play. A lot of Brazilians have played in the Premier League, with mixed results.” City fans will concur with that with a collective shudder, recalling the big-money failures of Robinho and Jo.
But Fernandinho is cut from a different cloth, not least because with his high-energy, positive, robust style he is part of a new breed of Brazilians ideally suited to the physical demands of European football and, it would appear, England in particular.
There is relish in his voice when he considers his move to City. “I came here to win,” says the man who is used to serial achievement — six league titles in eight years in Ukraine with that country’s richest club and who now wants to win more with England’s wealthiest.
“Of course, I will be paid as a professional footballer, but the only thing I am greedy for is success,” Fernandinho explains. “In my country we say that football is like a huge plate of food — well, I want to eat everything because I want to win every trophy that I can for City.”
Fernandinho was hungry in Donetsk, the mining town dominated by the futuristic Donbass Arena and propped up by the millions invested by oligarch Rinat Akhmetov. That hunger was literal on one occasion with Fernandinho recalling the bitterly-cold winter day when his craving for a Brazilian barbecue led to him hurriedly buying and then setting up an electric grill in the garage of his home.
“It was a desperate situation I was in at the time,” he says. “I was desperate to have a barbecue, I love eating meat from a barbecue and it was so long since I had had one. The only place I could have one was in the garage so I had it in there. It was so cold I couldn’t go outside. I moved the cars out, put the central heating on. It was nice, actually.”
It also demonstrated Fernandinho’s ability to adapt. He is not the only Brazilian to make the journey to Donetsk — Bernard is the latest import — but he stayed longer than most. “What I did there was to work hard — and I achieved what I achieved. It’s what I have to do everywhere I go,” he says.
It could have been Chelsea, rather than City — “I know there were negotiations between Shakhtar and Chelsea,” Fernandinho says — but the Ukrainian club, interestingly, “made it clear” they would prefer to sell to City. “Shakhtar told me they had refused an offer,” he says. “There was also a stage a year ago when I spoke to people from Tottenham, but nothing came of that.”
Instead Spurs signed Paulinho this year and the pair are rivals for a place in Luiz Felipe Scolari’s World Cup squad. Fernandinho — as Willian found before him — realises that playing in Ukraine lessened his chances of international football.
“I decided that I had to leave Ukraine to play in a strong league that would help me get the attention of the people in charge of the Brazilian national team,” he says.
Fernandinho has consistently shown a willingness to adapt. He speaks four languages — Portuguese, Russian, Italian and Spanish — and is quickly picking up English although this interview was understandably conducted through a translator. Still he does not feel the need for lessons — “I find the best way to learn a new language is to talk to people” — and having left home when he was 17 and quit Brazil when he was 20, he shrugs off any concerns over settling.
“Every time I put football at the forefront,” Fernandinho says. “That’s the reason.”
Already his three-year-old son sleeps with a football. “I think it’s genetic within my family,” Fernandinho declares of the love of the game and his days growing up in the district of Londrina (‘Little London’) in southern Brazil. “Since I was a child we used flip-flops or bricks to mark the goal-posts and that was it — we’d have our pitch on the street.” City was not a hard sell. And Fernandinho’s arrival, under new manager Manuel Pellegrini, was soon followed by Alvaro Negredo, Jesus Navas and Stefan Jovetic — close to £100 million of signings — representing huge intent.
“The club already has a high name around the world,” Fernandinho says. “I think City is on the way up there, to be at a similar level to [Manchester] United. We saw that in the summer when we went on tour — we had loads of supporters there. It’s going to be a huge club.”
And what will Fernandinho contribute? “I like to have the ball at my feet a lot,” he says with Pellegrini indicating he will be part of a powerful central midfield pivot alongside Yaya Touré.
“I aim to help my team-mates by making assists and, of course I like to score goals. I also understand that I have a responsibility to try to stop the other team, so marking and tackling are just as important to my game. I feel well suited to the game that is played in the Premier League.”
That has not always been the case with his countrymen. “I know that many Brazilians haven’t been well thought of in England because of the different style of play here,” Fernandinho says.
“A lot of Brazilians have played in the Premier League, with mixed results. Will I be different? Well, personally speaking, I think one of my biggest qualities is my consistency I am a balanced footballer.” And a balanced person