[ad_pod ]Frenkie de Jong,ÂJorginho,ÂFred, and so on. A number of marquee names have been thrown around regarding who will eventually be the heir to Fernandinho’s defensive midfield throne at Manchester City.The three aforementioned names sold to their eventual buyers for a combined £162m, but Pep Guardiola could have the Brazilian’s replacement without spending a single penny.442oons have charted the entire career of Man City’s main man Sergio Aguero through song in the hilarious video below…Oleksandr Zinchenko. A man who is quickly becoming a fan favourite at the Etihad Stadium, not just for his excellent performances, but for his desire to stay and fight for his place despite Wolves having a £16m bid accepted for his services back in the summer.The Ukrainian international is extremely versatile. Having started his career as an attacking midfielder, Zinchenko became a left-back in the absence of Benjamin Mendy last season and hasn’t looked back.It will be very, very tough to leave such an impressive performer such as Mendy on the bench when he eventually returns to full fitness, so Guardiola may be able to kill two birds with one stone by moving Zinchenko into the middle and drafting the World Cup winner back into the side.
Yet another serious injury to the Frenchman has seen 22-year-old Zinchenko earn a lot more game time in the current campaign than he perhaps would’ve anticipated, and he very rarely lets the Citizens down – Guardiola has even pointed to the youngster as a player that the likes of Leroy Sane and Riyad Mahrez can ‘learn from’.
In his first outing whilst on international duty against Portugal, Zinchenko was deployed in an unfamiliar defensive midfield role, where he performed admirably against the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, club-mate Bernardo Silva and Andre Silva.
The video above shows Zinchenko getting stuck in on a number of occasions with some vital blocks, but also mirroring Fernandinho’s impact in sky blue by staying composed once the ball has been won and being able to use the ball efficiently and effectively.
Guardiola has tried and tried to sign a replacement for the soon-to-be 34-year-old Fernandinho, but all the time, the answer could have been right under his nose.