Richard Buxton: Fernandinho’s real deal; accept no imitations

Fernandinho remains typecast in the Mary Poppins role for Manchester City.

Only the evergreen midfielder is capable of putting the EPL champions' house in order.

Without him, harmony crashes around the ears of Pep Guardiola's filthy-rich ensemble.

A comfortable 3-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers yesterday morning (Singapore time) underlined why their well-heeled squad remains highly imbalanced due to one key area.

Guardiola has spent £542.9 million (S$943.6m) on players since pitching up at the Etihad Stadium almost three years ago, yet has failed to find a viable alternative to Fernandinho.

City's ideology of stocking each position with two elite players falls flat in the holding midfield area.

It has not been for a lack of trying. Last summer, the Catalan sought to draft in more Brazil-born enforcers but saw them end up at polar ends of both Manchester and the country; Fred moved to Old Trafford while Jorginho struck up a reunion with Maurizio Sarri at Stamford Bridge.

Once bitten and twice shy, Guardiola refused to be made a fool the third time around.

He preferred to soldier on, with an ageing Fernandinho expected to continue taking up the slack.

But that self-inflicted wound has already rendered another procession-like route to the title unlikely.

Impressive as the 33-year-old continues to be, he is still not immune to mortality.

His absence in successive defeats by Crystal Palace and Leicester City last month gifted Liverpool a slight upper hand as Guardiola's threadbare approach came home to roost.

Neither result was coincidental during Fernandinho's enforced omission through injury, nor was his ability to comfortably dictate proceedings from City's engine room against both Liverpool and Nuno Espirito Santo's side despite barely breaking stride.

Guardiola freely admits that he does not possess a "magician's ball" to forecast the required points tally to retain the title, but there is no shortage of wizards to help him conjure it.

MASTERY

City boast the mastery of Kevin de Bruyne, David Silva, Raheem Sterling and even Riyad Mahrez in an ongoing game of catch-up to their Anfield counterparts.

Crucially, however, his mercurial charges cannot fully function without the steel provided by his midfield metronome.

Makeshift options, be it Ilkay Guendogan or Fabian Delph, are barely even pale imitations.

So, too, are potential successors such as Ruben Neves, his opposite number against Wolves.

It is why Guardiola stuck with Fernandinho for the December loss at Chelsea despite the player lacking match fitness and struggling throughout.

The outcome would have been far more humiliating but for the damage limitation of the Brazil international's inclusion.

Similarly, the gap with leaders Liverpool could have extended beyond the currently surmountable four points without his return to action a matter of days earlier.

As Juergen Klopp's title chasers begin to look over their shoulder, City are starting to again resemble the side which rewrote the history books during the previous campaign.

The fixtures stand in the Reds' favour, not least with three of their next four games at Anfield.

Guardiola's charges, meanwhile, have a double-header against Arsenal and Chelsea on the back of unenviable trips to Huddersfield and Newcastle.

Fighting on the back foot could actually come to suit them in hunting down the Reds with Fernandinho's continued presence.

Keeping him fit and in-form might yet see the title returning to Manchester after all.