CITY V WOLVES

PEP Guardiola admits City have to find a Fernandinho replacement this summer – but the club won’t overspend to get their man.

The Brazilian’s influence at the Blues was highlighted over Christmas when his absence through injury resulted in shock defeats to Crystal Palace and Leicester City.

But attempts to find cover and an eventual long-term replacement for the 33-year-old have proved frustrating for Guardiola. Jorginho opted for a move to Chelsea last summer while Barcelona are confident of landing Ajax’s highlyrated prospect Frenkie de Jong.

Ruben Neves, who will line-up against City for Wolves at the Etihad tonight, has been linked with the Blues but having heard reports of a £100m price tag on his head, Guardiola insists the club won’t be spending that sort of money on a midfielder, although he did describe the 21-year-old as an ‘excellent player.’

“It’s not difficult – there are many who can play in that position. There are many clubs in the world, many holding midfielders in the world, and most of them can play here. That’s not the point,” Guardiola said of the difficulty in replacing Fernandinho.

“Most of them are under contracts. A month ago, I started reading – ‘Ruben Neves, £100 million.’ That is not going to happen, we are not going to pay £100 million for a holding midfielder.

“Of course, all departments in the club, we have in every position four or five or six options – depending on age, what we believe and, of course, the price.

“The most expensive one was Riyad [Mahrez] and he is far away from what the top teams pay. Our wage bill for the players is eighth or ninth or tenth in Europe, so there are eight or nine clubs where the wages are higher than what Manchester City pay. We try to be stable in everything.

“When we spent a lot last season, it was because the team was old – it was 30-31 years old and that’s why we did it. But we cannot do it every season.

“We have a limit and cannot spend more, so that’s why we need to be careful with the players and try next season to see what we can do to improve.”

While Guardiola didn’t directly speak about the battle for De Jong’s signature, he said City were always going to struggle in the transfer market if they were up against Real Madrid or Barcelona.

And while he did say the club were doing ‘really well’ in the market, he believes they can be even more efficient to try and cut their rivals out of the chase.

“If you are the only one who want players it’s easy. But if you want one and many, many clubs want him, it’s more complicated, especially if it’s Madrid or Barcelona,” said Guardiola.

“Normally when you are involved with Madrid and Barcelona you are going to lose. You have to be quicker and more efficient. The club knows because ‘Welcome everybody,’ it will more expensive for everybody and it is what it is.”

Fernandinho has recently gone past 250 City appearances and while Guardiola is content to use either John Stones as a more defensive option or Ilkay Gundogan as a more creative presence in that position, he knows time is of the essence when it comes to finding a long-term replacement.

“Specifically Fernandinho’s role, it’s so difficult to find,” he said.

“He knows the Premier League, after three years together here, he knows everything and that’s so important.

“But, of course, for the next season it’s an important target to find. He’ll be 34 and he cannot play every few days.”