Galatasaray complete signing of Fernando from Manchester City

Fernando becomes the latest player to leave Manchester City as the Brazilian joins Turkish giants Galatasaray for a fee of €5.25 million.

The defensive midfielder joined City from Porto in 2014 for £12 million and formed a potent partnership with fellow Brazilian Fernandinho as the pair consistently provided cover for a back-four and broke up opposition play. 

He went on to make 101 appearances for City, scoring four goals and leading the team to League Cup success in 2016.

Fernando found it hard to break into the first team last season under Pep Guardiola, with the Spanish manager preferring to use a 4-1-2-3 formation which only required one central defensive midfielder which was filled up by Fernandinho more often than not. The Brazilian only managed to make 26 appearances, including just 14 in the Premier League, and scored no goals. 

He follows a long list of players who have left the Etihad this summer in Guardiola's huge squad overhaul, which includes Kelechi Iheanacho, Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna, Jesus Navas, Aleksander Kolarov, Joe Hart, Willy Caballero and Pablo Zabaleta.  

Galatasaray announced the signing of Fernando on the club's official website in a statement that read: "Professional football player Fernando Francisco Reges and club Manchester City FC agreed to transfer the player. Accordingly, the transfer fee of net €5.25 million will be paid to Manchester City. In addition, a maximum of € 900,000 will be paid in bonuses." 

Fernando thanked Manchester City in his last interview with the club, saying: "It's been a pleasure to play for Manchester City. The League Cup success of 2016 was a highlight for me and something I will never forget."