Man City could give Fernandinho the crowning send-off he deserves

Fernandinho's commitment to Manchester City has always been exemplary. A crucial leader, a fine central midfielder and a classy human being, his nine-year stint at the club will always be looked back on with fond memories.

382 appearances and 11 major trophies later, the legendary Brazilian will be saying goodbye to his adoring Etihad crowd on Sunday - hopefully with a trophy in his hand. But with Premier League title or not, he will be given the fitting send-off he deserves, as he adds to an ever-growing list of adopted Mancunians.

It was well documented Fernandinho paid £4million of his £34m transfer fee to secure his move to City from Shakhtar Donetsk back in 2013, and his picture on Twitter the next day summarised everything the midfielder is about.

He arrived at the club when Yaya Toure was at the peak of his powers - when the Ivorian scored a staggering 20 goals and provided nine assists from central midfield. But just like every Batman has his Robin, Toure knew he had the ability to foray forward and cause havoc because Fernandinho - his midfield partner - would be there to sweep up any danger if an attack breaks down.

The 37-year-old went from strength to strength in a blue shirt. It's well known as 'The Makelele role', but Fernandinho's progression into mastering a single-man midfield was unparalleled and a lot of City's success is down to his reliability in front of the back four.

That development was aided by Pep Guardiola's arrival at the club. The Brazilian was trusted - in such a high-intensity system - to continue being City's lynchpin from deep areas - and he has never let the Catalan down.

He has an undeniable quality of sniffing danger, but his ability with the ball became so underrated. He can