A Progress Report on Manchester City's Summer Signing Fernando

Without question, the tone of this piece would have been significantly different two months ago, or even just last month. But to his credit, Manchester City midfield marauder Fernando has completely revised the narrative around his time at City—by just being the player City thought they acquired all along.

"The 26-year-old Brazilian, who won four league titles and a UEFA Europa League during his seven seasons in Portugal, normally operates as a defensive midfielder and will wear the No. 6 shirt at Etihad Stadium," noted a Premier League report at the time of Fernando's arrival at City.

Fernando's acquisition was much speedier (and far less expensive) than that of centre-back Eliaquim Mangala. As a result, City supporters could be forgiven for overlooking what Fernando was bringing to the club. Had they read the ESPNFC's profile of Fernando, though, their excitement levels may have been higher.

"The most surprising thing about Fernando's move to Manchester City from Porto...was that it had taken so long for a club outside of Portugal to prise him away," noted ESPNFC. "(I)t was Manchester City who won the race for his signature."

The trouble with signing expensive talent is that unless the new signing sets the world alight like Diego Costa did at Chelsea, the reflexive reaction is to worry that the new signing is a bust. It was like that with Mangala at City, and for a while it was like that for Fernando, too.

Fernando missed all of September with injury, and he played only one full match in October (a 2-1 loss at West Ham United) as City boss Manuel Pellegrini worked around injuries to other players and a consequent dip in City's form.

As City's fortunes turned, it seemed, so did Fernando's playing time. He was substituted out of City's 4-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur because the match was in hand; he was sacrificed in the 64th minute against CSKA Moscow as City desperately chased an equalizer.

Fernando's battles with injury and ineffectiveness were made more challenging by similar troubles that afflicted Fernandinho. By mid-November, if the alarms about the performance levels of Fernando and Fernandinho were not blaring, they were at least buzzing.

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"Fernando looked the part in his early performances...(h)e perhaps needs more time to settle," wrote Stuart Brennan for the Manchester Evening News. "(W)ith Yaya Toure not dishing up the goals, and Fernandinho still looking like a player in shock after Brazil’s traumatic World Cup, the middle of the park has been a problem area for the Blues."

To no one's surprise, all it has taken for Fernando to render some of those words moot has been a series of strong performances that both coincided with and to a degree created City's miraculous qualification for the knockout stage in the Champions League.

In less than a month, Fernando has gone from a player who City could take or leave to a player who they cannot do without. It is to the point now where—and this is pretty absurd—pundits are suggesting that at least in Champions League play, Fernando should be playing in Yaya Toure's place.

"When Yaya Toure plays he's a game changer and a goal scorer, but his defensive play can be easily played around—we've seen that in the Premier League and in European games," said Gary Neville on Sky Sports (h/t Richard Arrowsmith of the Daily Mail).

"Fernando and Fernandinho, those two did a proper job shielding the defence and that is part of the reason City got their first clean sheet from the group stages" against AS Roma, Neville continued.

To which the only rational response can be, "settle down."

Fernando is enjoying a very nice run of form, and City are winning matches. But we are less than a month removed from the time where City were not winning many matches and where Fernando did not seem to fit in the City team.

Maybe Toure will never distinguish himself in Champions League play, but you do not sit a prolific two-way (when he wants to) talent like Toure for a one-dimensional player like Fernando. No matter how great Fernando's one dimension is.

With apologies for the unintended pun, then, the progress report on Fernando at City is that he is still a work in progress.

That said, if City progress beyond the Round of 16 in Champions League knockout play with Fernando playing a big role, most of the questions about him will be answered.