How Guardiola plans to prolong Fernandinho’s Manchester City career revealed

Pep Guardiola believes he can prolong Fernandinho’s time at Manchester City by converting the Brazilian into a centre-back, claims The Daily Mirror.

Fernandinho will turn 34 at the end of the season and Guardiola has been on the market for his long-term replacement for the last 12 months.

The Brazil international is an indispensable cog in Guardiola’s side but his career now requires careful management in order to avoid burnout.

Fernandinho has entered the final 18 months of his current City deal and Guardiola has come up with a way that could potentially prolong his stay at the Etihad.

Guardiola believes the veteran can follow in the footsteps of Javier Mascherano and convert into a centre-back and fans were given a glimpse of Fernandinho’s future in last weekend’s triumph over Arsenal.

Fernandinho was surprisingly deployed as a centre-back against the Gunners with the license to step forward into midfield when appropriate, though was restored back to central midfield in their 6-0 demolition of Chelsea on Sunday.

Only Aymeric Laporte (2337) has managed more minutes of playing time than Fernandinho (2173) of all City outfielders in the Premier League this season.

Furthermore, Fernandinho has completed the most passes into the final third of the pitch in the Premier League since the beginning of last season (2613).