Fernandinho: The Man Who Changed Perceptions of Brazilians in the Premier League

Few players work as hard on the pitch as Fernandinho. After regularly covering every blade of the Etihad Stadium turf, few could blame him for skipping past the mixed zone with headphones on and heading straight home.

However, after Manchester City's 5-0 win against Burnley in October, a game where he provided a goal and an assist, the tireless 33-year-old still found time to take a few questions from reporters.

Despite finally grabbing headlines this campaign for his performances, the holding midfielder does not enjoy speaking about how he has become the glue that holds Pep Guardiola's side together.

And yet, when he does agree to talk a bit about himself, he brings a depth of thought rarely seen in post-match interviews, offering a perspective many have not paid attention to.

"The biggest legacy I'll maybe leave is the fact that I have re-opened doors for Brazilians at this club," Fernandinho told the Portuguese-speaking media after the Burnley game.

"When I got here, Brazilians were still seen in a negative light. And now we have four Brazilians of a very high level in the squad, which makes me happy because I've always been respected inside the dressing room, by the fans and everyone. I feel a great affection from all."

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As the stalwart of the club's Brazilian community, it was up to Fernandinho to lead the welcoming committee for those who arrived after him—Fernando Reges, Gabriel Jesus, Danilo, Ederson and Douglas Luiz.

He's like a godfather figure to them all.

Although it hasn't been an easy route for the all-rounder to be recognised as arguably City's most important player this term, changing the perception regarding his countrymen in the dressing room was almost as difficult when he arrived from Shakhtar Donetsk in the summer of 2013.

Back then, not surprisingly, memories of Robinho, Jo and Maicon were still fresh inside the Etihad Campus and raised behavioral concerns whenever a Brazilian footballer was linked with a move to the north-west.

Robinho caused a litany of issues from leaving training camps to fighting with Craig Bellamy and partying too hard. Jo was fined after he was spotted in a Manchester nightclub when he was supposed to be recovering from tonsillitis, while Maicon managed to play make just 13 appearances during his sole, unhappy season in the city. 

It wasn't just at City where Brazilians struggled either. The likes of Andre Santos (Arsenal), Paulinho and Gilberto (both Tottenham Hotspur), Mineiro (Chelsea), Kleberson (Manchester United), Afonso Alves (Middlesbrough), Julio Cesar (Queens Park Rangers) and Roque Junior (Leeds United) all left England with their reputations lessened from when they arrived. 

It's safe to say, though, that the situation has changed.

The poor track record of Brazilians at City has been reversed thanks to Fernandinho's legacy and has even motivated the club to hire local scouts to bring in more talents from the South American country's domestic game.

"When we arrived, everybody tried to find out if we were like those Brazilian footballers who partied hard and did not behave as professionals," Reges, who featured for three seasons at City alongside Fernandinho before moving to Galatasaray in 2017, tells Bleacher Report.

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"We knew the acclimation process to a city like Manchester would not be easy because of the weather and most importantly the perception around when it came to players from Brazil. People had a very different idea of us back then. But we relied on each other and did our best to improve our reputation.

"Fernandinho was almost like a brother to me, he really helped me to settle in the team.

"We were aware that it would take time to change the way Brazilians were thought of, and that it would only be possible through hard work and discipline. A year-and-a-half after that, Gabriel [Jesus] came. Six months later, it was Danilo and Ederson's turn. It's a sign that Fernandinho and me did something good there."

Guardiola has reaped the benefits. The Catalan has repeatedly hailed Fernandinho's form this term, singling him out "extraordinary" and saying that working with the midfielder makes him "the luckiest manager in the world." He even went as far as saying he would pray for the holding midfielder "to be fit for as long as possible."

Fernandinho's influence was clearly illustrated over the Christmas period, when those prayers went unanswered and City were left without their talisman due to a thigh injury. They suffered back-to-back shock defeats to Crystal Palace and Leicester City in the first two Premier League games team played in his absence. 

Finding a long-term replacement capable of performing the same role has now become a matter of increasing urgency for City, with Wolves' highly rated youngster Ruben Neves tipped for the job among others.

Since Fernandinho has returned to side, including a man-of-the-match performance in the crucial 2-1 victory over Premier League leaders Liverpool, City have won every game they've played.

"Fernandinho has not always got enough credit for the work he does, but his success doesn't surprise me, especially because of the way Guardiola treated players like him throughout his career," Ze Elias, a former Bayer Leverkusen and Inter Milan defensive midfielder, tells B/R.

"Guardiola played in that position, knows all the secrets and tricks. He has already turned [Sergio] Busquets into one of the best in the world and now is doing the same with Fernandinho. In a way, it's like cutting a diamond. The talent is there."

From anticipating problems before they arise to making the best pass to push the team forward, Fernandinho's varied skill set makes him invaluable on the pitch, but he's almost as influential off it.

Now one of City's most experienced stalwarts, he's described as a calm, laid-back, down-to-earth character in the dressing room—the exact opposite to the countrymen who preceded him at the club. City even chose him as Gabriel Jesus' "tutor" when the 21-year-old forward landed in 2017.

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He easily spends half a minute thinking before answering a question and then speaks so softly that his voice can barely be heard.

Settled into Manchester life, Fernandinho is known for his big heart above all. As Borman Litig—a compatriot who owns a small shop specialising in Brazilian groceries in the Salford district—can confirm, he's not just a world-class midfielder.

"It was Fernandinho who helped me advertise my tiny grocery store among his national team-mates. He was the first one to come around and ask me for business cards to distribute them," Litig recalls in an interview with B/R.

"He's a very humble guy who really care about others.

"[Roberto] Firmino once invited me for his daughter's birthday in Liverpool. I had suffered a heart attack a little before that and Fernandinho came to me and asked how I was doing, if everything was OK."

It should not come as a surprise the amount of people who speak highly of City's midfield linchpin.

Even the media, who often bemoan their lack of access and the distance shown by modern players, have seen Fernandinho's warm side.

Felipe Kieling, a news correspondent for Bandeirantes—one of Brazil's largest networks—discovered this firsthand. After interviewing Fernandinho in 2014, he found himself stuck in the north-west after a storm saw his train back to London cancelled. He needed help.

"We did the interview at his house in Macclesfield, near Manchester. After it, he left me in the train station. It was very windy, raining so much, I had to hide myself under a shelter. And even though I had been waiting there for over an hour, no train had come," Kieling tells B/R.

"I decided to call Fernandinho, 'Do you know what is going on?' I asked him. And he replied, 'Felipe, I don't, but I'm going to watch City's game at Etihad Stadium and I can give you a ride to the centre of Manchester. From there, you can find a hotel, check if there are trains available.' And he picked me up. But on our way to Etihad, the police had blocked most of the streets, explaining that trees had fallen and there was no way to get to the match, which ended up being cancelled.

"Then, Fernandinho, who was injured, told me that we should head back to his home. I thanked him and said, 'No, I can take a cab from here, find a nearby hotel.' But he insisted, 'No, let's go to my house, it's my pleasure.' We had dinner together, I got my work done and sent everything from there.

"We stayed up late chatting about many things—he's a guy you can speak about different subjects, he's very intelligent. He offered me a room, even handed me a toothbrush, made me feel at home. In the morning, we had breakfast and he left me once again in the train station."

As a boy who saw his parents split up when he was 15, abandoned his hometown of Londrina (Little London) by the age of 17 and was transferred to Ukraine when he was 20, he has not forgotten his roots.

"The anecdote reveals a part of his personality, the human guy he is. I'm not sure if other players would have behaved the same way, inviting a journalist to sleep over, receiving him like this. It gives you a glimpse of what he's like away from the pitch and why he's so respected by the club and fans," Kieling adds.

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Few people know the Brazilian contingent in the Premier League better than Joao Castelo-Branco, a longtime correspondent for ESPN Brasil and presenter of weekly podcast Correspondentes Premier.

Castelo-Branco has been reporting from England for over 10 seasons and rates Fernandinho as "one of the nicest and most polite players he has ever dealt with throughout his time covering games." He says that City's holding man is a rare breed of athlete.

"We can definitely say that Fernandinho has contributed to change the perception around Brazilian players," Castelo-Branco explains in an interview with B/R.

"Apart from his character, his time in Ukraine with Shakhtar Donetsk also helped a lot in his adaptation process. When you come from such a place, you will not be complaining about the weather in Manchester, it feels almost like a tropical one. I think that few Brazilians had the recognition he's getting nowadays. Perhaps only Gilberto Silva, who was a key member of Arsenal's unbeaten team."

Fernandinho has found a home from home in Manchester.

Since last summer, it has been a refuge for him and his relatives from the racist abuse they suffered after he scored an own goal in Brazil's exit from the FIFA World Cup in Russia. He had already been heavily criticised after a 7-1 semi-final defeat to Germany on home soil four years previously.

Brazil boss Tite still wants to bring him back into the squad and considers it a matter of honour.

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However, Fernandinho has promised his family he will remain retired from international football and concentrate on his City career from now on.

"The first player that I wanted to call up [after the World Cup] was Fernandinho. The No. 1. I told myself, 'I'll not abandon my convictions, my human side.' He is an extraordinary guy, such a good footballer. Why would I cut his head off and hand it on a plate [to satisfy the critics]? I will not pay this price to win," Tite explained in a recent interview with SporTV.

"There are other factors that this cruelty caused inside his family. He told me, 'I promised them I would not go back [to the national team].' I replied to him, 'Speak to them one more time.'"

Fernandinho seems to have accepted that no matter how hard he tries, he will never be loved at the Maracana as much as he is at the Etihad.

Despite that, the unsung hero will forever have the gratitude of his countrymen for reopening City's doors for Brazilians. It may be worth more than a World Cup trophy for some of them.