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(Fernando Luiz Rosa, born 1985, Londrina, Brazil), Brazilian defensive midfielder; Shakhtar Donetsk 2005-2013, Manchester City 2013-2022 (383 games, captain, five Premier League titles), later Athletico Paranaense; retired 2025.", "snippet": "Fernandinho (Fernando Luiz Rosa, born 1985, Londrina, Brazil), Brazilian defensive midfielder; Shakhtar Donetsk 2005-2013, Manchester City 2013-2022 (383 games, captain, five Premier League titles), later Athletico Paranaense; retired 2025.", "node": "play.football.people.biographies.men.south_america.brazilian-men-s-footballers.contemporary-brazilian-footballers.brazilian-footballers-born-in-the-1980s", "markdown": "# Fernandinho (footballer, born 1985)\n\n**Fernandinho** is the nickname of Fernando Luiz Rosa (born 1985 in Londrina, Brazil), a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder, most notably for Shakhtar Donetsk between 2005 and 2013 and for Manchester City between 2013 and 2022, where he made 383 appearances, served as club captain, and won 13 major trophies including five Premier League titles.[1](https://www.mancity.com/features/fernandinho-city-career) • [2](https://www.fotmob.com/players/40196/fernandinho) • [3](https://www.mancity.com/news/mens/fernandinho-landmark-games-city-63881820)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Born | Londrina, Brazil; turned 40 in 2025[1](https://www.mancity.com/features/fernandinho-city-career) |\n| Clubs | Athletico Paranaense; Shakhtar Donetsk (July 2005 to June 2013); Manchester City (July 2013 to June 2022); Athletico-PR (last club)[2](https://www.fotmob.com/players/40196/fernandinho) • [4](https://www.transfermarkt.com/fernandinho/erfolge/spieler/26267) |\n| Manchester City record | 383 appearances, 26 goals; only 18 players have made more appearances for the club[2](https://www.fotmob.com/players/40196/fernandinho) • [3](https://www.mancity.com/news/mens/fernandinho-landmark-games-city-63881820) |\n| Shakhtar honors | 14 medals, including the UEFA Cup and six Ukrainian Premier League titles[5](https://www.mancity.com/news/first-team/first-team-news/2018/october/manchester-city-fernandinho-pep-guardiola-analysis) |\n| City honors | 13 major trophies, including five Premier League titles[3](https://www.mancity.com/news/mens/fernandinho-landmark-games-city-63881820) |\n| Transfer fee | £30 million from Shakhtar Donetsk in summer 2013[6](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/56903705) |\n| Captaincy | Club captain from 2020, after David Silva's departure, for two years[1](https://www.mancity.com/features/fernandinho-city-career) • [3](https://www.mancity.com/news/mens/fernandinho-landmark-games-city-63881820) |\n| Retirement | Listed by Transfermarkt as retired since 20 November 2025[4](https://www.transfermarkt.com/fernandinho/erfolge/spieler/26267) |\n\n## Early career and Shakhtar Donetsk\n\nFernandinho learned the game in Brazil, where he was picked up by Athletico Paranaense after playing street football barefoot with plastic balls, rotating through every position in small-sided games. He has said that this experience, in which he did not understand the concept of a fixed position, helped him when he trained to become a professional.[1](https://www.mancity.com/features/fernandinho-city-career)\n\nIn 2005, aged 20, he signed for Shakhtar Donetsk to further his career in Europe, moving to a country with a different culture and climate. He described the decision as a risk worth taking: \"When you have 20 years, you are young and you have to risk.\"\n[5](https://www.mancity.com/news/first-team/first-team-news/2018/october/manchester-city-fernandinho-pep-guardiola-analysis) • [7](https://as.com/futbol/internacional/shakhtar-donetsk-un-pedazo-de-brasil-para-arda-en-ucrania-f202605-n/) He remained at Shakhtar for eight years, winning 14 medals including the UEFA Cup and six [Ukrainian Premier League](https://www.edgepedia.org/ukrainian-premier-league) titles, and established himself as one of the most important players in the club's history.[5](https://www.mancity.com/news/first-team/first-team-news/2018/october/manchester-city-fernandinho-pep-guardiola-analysis) • [7](https://as.com/futbol/internacional/shakhtar-donetsk-un-pedazo-de-brasil-para-arda-en-ucrania-f202605-n/)\n\n## Manchester City, 2013 to 2022\n\n**Arrival under Pellegrini.** Manchester City signed the 28-year-old in June 2013 for a £30 million fee, at the start of [Manuel Pellegrini](https://www.edgepedia.org/manuel-pellegrini)'s reign, to partner [Yaya Touré](https://www.edgepedia.org/yaya-toure) in central midfield.[6](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/56903705) • [1](https://www.mancity.com/features/fernandinho-city-career) The plan, according to director of football [Txiki Begiristain](https://www.edgepedia.org/txiki-begiristain), was a double pivot in which the two would take turns going forward, but Touré stopped tracking back and Fernandinho had to stay. In 2013/14 City won the Premier League and the League Cup, Touré scored 24 goals from midfield, and Fernandinho scored five himself while patrolling the space left by attacking players; he made 41 appearances in that debut season.[1](https://www.mancity.com/features/fernandinho-city-career) • [8](https://www.mancity.com/-/media/files/media-guide/tour-media-guide---2017.ashx?la=en) The following two seasons were harder, with finishes of second and fourth in the league and a second League Cup in 2015/16, across which he played 93 times.[1](https://www.mancity.com/features/fernandinho-city-career)\n\n**The Guardiola years.** When Pep Guardiola arrived in the summer of 2016, Fernandinho became the base of the side. In 2017/18 he operated behind [David Silva](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-silva) and [Kevin De Bruyne](https://www.edgepedia.org/kevin-de-bruyne) in a 4-3-3 that won a record 100 Premier League points, and he played 48 games as City also lifted the League Cup.[1](https://www.mancity.com/features/fernandinho-city-career) Guardiola called him \"one of the three best defensive midfielders in the world\" and said that, in his prime as a Barcelona midfielder, Fernandinho would have kept him out of the team.[9](https://as.com/futbol/2018/01/19/internacional/1516361149_779767.html) • [5](https://www.mancity.com/news/first-team/first-team-news/2018/october/manchester-city-fernandinho-pep-guardiola-analysis) The 2018/19 campaign brought a domestic quadruple and 42 further appearances, and it was the only season in which he was named in the PFA Team of the Year.[1](https://www.mancity.com/features/fernandinho-city-career)\n\n**Versatility and captaincy.** When a defensive injury crisis hit in 2019/20, Fernandinho moved into central defense despite being smaller than most Premier League center-backs, compensating with tackling and positional understanding.[1](https://www.mancity.com/features/fernandinho-city-career) After David Silva left at the end of that season, the squad voted him club captain, and he lifted the Premier League trophy in May 2021 in his first season with the armband; less than a week later he came on as a substitute in City's first Champions League final, a defeat by Chelsea that was his 350th appearance for the club.[1](https://www.mancity.com/features/fernandinho-city-career) • [3](https://www.mancity.com/news/mens/fernandinho-landmark-games-city-63881820) In 2021/22 Rodri became the first choice at the base of midfield, and Fernandinho, who had announced in April that his ninth season would be his last, still played 33 times.[1](https://www.mancity.com/features/fernandinho-city-career)\n\nHis final game was the last day of that season, City 3-2 Aston Villa in May 2022: starting at center-back with City 2-0 down and needing a win for the title, he finished on the winning side after an Ilkay Gundogan brace either side of a Rodri goal, and lifted the trophy again.[3](https://www.mancity.com/news/mens/fernandinho-landmark-games-city-63881820)\n\n## Playing style\n\nFernandinho was a holding midfielder whose contribution relied on positioning rather than spectacle. Writing in The Guardian in 2021, the football writer Jonathan Wilson, author and long-standing tactical analyst, described him as probably the best midfielder of his type in the world for a decade, a type that goes unnoticed by definition: he was not big, not quick, and did not spray long passes, with just 24 goals and 19 assists in 338 City games at that point. His value lay in being in the right place to deter passes, offering angles that kept possession moving, and committing tactical fouls; he had 335 fouls recorded in his Premier League career, and a foul by Fernandinho was 22.45% less likely to draw a booking than one by [Lee Cattermole](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-cattermole).[10](https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2021/mar/20/fernandinho-manchester-city-everton-fa-cup-mozart-pragmatic-intervention) At 5 ft 10 in he was nonetheless an effective header of the ball, and his positional play allowed full-backs such as Oleksandr Zinchenko to push high.[10](https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2021/mar/20/fernandinho-manchester-city-everton-fa-cup-mozart-pragmatic-intervention)\n\nHe was also deliberately versatile, playing in ten positions by Guardiola's count, including full-back and center-back. \"If the coach needs me to play in a different position, I can do it,\" he said.[5](https://www.mancity.com/news/first-team/first-team-news/2018/october/manchester-city-fernandinho-pep-guardiola-analysis) • [1](https://www.mancity.com/features/fernandinho-city-career)\n\n## Later career and legacy\n\nAfter leaving City in 2022 he returned to Brazil with Athletico Paranaense, completing the circle of his career, and Transfermarkt records his retirement as of 20 November 2025.[1](https://www.mancity.com/features/fernandinho-city-career) • [4](https://www.transfermarkt.com/fernandinho/erfolge/spieler/26267) He remains a welcome figure at the Etihad, and his influence is visible in his successor: Rodri, signed from Atletico Madrid in 2019 as the club's chosen heir, won the [Ballon d'Or](https://www.edgepedia.org/ballon-dor) in 2024, and Fernandinho spoke of his pride at seeing the player he had advised reach that level.[1](https://www.mancity.com/features/fernandinho-city-career)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Fernandinho: Half Brazilian, Half Mancunian, Manchester City FC](https://www.mancity.com/features/fernandinho-city-career)\n2. [Fernandinho, FotMob](https://www.fotmob.com/players/40196/fernandinho)\n3. [Fernandinho's landmark games for City, Manchester City FC](https://www.mancity.com/news/mens/fernandinho-landmark-games-city-63881820)\n4. [Fernandinho, Titles & achievements, Transfermarkt](https://www.transfermarkt.com/fernandinho/erfolge/spieler/26267)\n5. [Fernandinho: The ultimate players' player, Manchester City FC](https://www.mancity.com/news/first-team/first-team-news/2018/october/manchester-city-fernandinho-pep-guardiola-analysis)\n6. [Champions League final: What is Fernandinho's Manchester City legacy?, BBC Sport](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/56903705)\n7. [Shakhtar Donetsk, un pedazo de Brasil para Arda en Ucrania, AS](https://as.com/futbol/internacional/shakhtar-donetsk-un-pedazo-de-brasil-para-arda-en-ucrania-f202605-n/)\n8. [Manchester City tour media guide 2017](https://www.mancity.com/-/media/files/media-guide/tour-media-guide---2017.ashx?la=en)\n9. [Fernandinho renueva con el Manchester City hasta 2020, AS](https://as.com/futbol/2018/01/19/internacional/1516361149_779767.html)\n10. [The Mozart of pragmatic intervention: Fernandinho keeps City ticking over, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2021/mar/20/fernandinho-manchester-city-everton-fa-cup-mozart-pragmatic-intervention)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Association football › Football people and teams › People › Men's footballers of South America › Brazilian men's footballers › Contemporary Brazilian footballers › Brazilian footballers born in the 1980s*\n\n*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/fernandinho-footballer-born-1985", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/fernandinho-footballer-born-1985.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Fernandinho (footballer, born 1985)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/fernandinho-footballer-born-1985. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Fernandinho (footballer, born 1985)](https://www.edgepedia.org/fernandinho-footballer-born-1985)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/fernandinho-footballer-born-1985](https://www.edgepedia.org/fernandinho-footballer-born-1985). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Fernandinho (footballer, born 1985)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/fernandinho-footballer-born-1985. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Fernandinho, Brazilian defensive midfielder; Shakhtar Donetsk 2005-2013, Manchester City 2013-2022, later Athletico Paranaense; retired 2025." }