Pep Guardiola shocked by Fernandinho announcing Manchester City exit

Fernandinho shocked Pep Guardiola by revealing he will leave Manchester City in the summer, with the manager saying this was news to him when asked about the midfielder’s departure.

The Brazilian will end a nine-year career at the champions in May because he wishes to return to his homeland and play more regularly. Fernandinho has made only 11 starts this season, four since the start of the year, and the 36-year-old is unlikely to be in the XI for Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg at Atlético Madrid.

Fernandinho, asked whether he would like to stay another year at City, said: “I don’t think so. Yes, I want to play more; I will go back to Brazil. I decided with my family, which is the most important thing for me. And some people in the club know it.”

Yet one of those was not Guardiola. “I didn’t know it,” he said. “You gave me the news. We will see what will happen at the end of the season. I said many times we will see what happens.”

When asked again, Guardiola said: “I said at the end of the season we will talk – maybe it is a family decision, maybe he wants more minutes. I would love to be with him.”

Guardiola suggested that Txiki Begiristain, City’s sporting director, may have known but insisted that Fernandinho revealing his future this way was nothing underhand.

“Maybe Txiki knows it and didn’t tell me,” Guardiola said. “I don’t know. It is a surprise for me; I will say to him [Txiki]: ‘What happened?’ But I know his [Fernandinho’s] intentions. Another player would do it for his benefit. Knowing Ferna, it will not be this.”

Guardiola can comprehend his reasoning for departing. “Absolutely,” he said. “I want the happiness of my players and absolutely we are going to play tomorrow for him and give