Fernandinho departure marks the end of a cycle for Man City and fans

When Fernandinho matter-of-factly announced last month that he would be leaving Manchester City at the end of the season, it was more the manner of his announcement than the nature of it that was surprising.

Nobody was shocked that the 37-year-old defensive midfielder, who has played little this season and has often looked his age when he did, decided to leave the club after nine years.

But the timing of the news - the day before a crucial Champions League quarter-final second leg match against Atletico Madrid - and the fact that he announced his departure publicly without first telling manager Pep Guardiola, seemed out of character.

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That Guardiola did not - publicly at least - appear annoyed by the Brazilian's oversight, and that everything seems to have been smoothed over, speaks volumes of the way Fernandinho is regarded at the club. For years he has thrived on cleaning up the mess of others, but for a one-off the roles reversed, and no-one begrudges him for it.

The departure of the club captain signals the end of an era for both team and fanbase. Fernandinho is the last remaining member of the core of 'leadership' players that Guardiola inherited in 2016 who had already been at the club for years.

Vincent Kompany, Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Fernandinho were players left over from previous regimes who, understandably, Guardiola might have wanted to get rid of in order to properly start afresh.

But - thankfully - Pep recognised not only the incredible talents of the quartet, but the value of retaining some continuity between old and new. They gave fans a reference point, something to hold on to when things weren't going well, but