Manchester City might be better advised to sign a defensive midfielder with knowledge of the Premier League, rather than pursuing Atletico Madrid starlet Rodri.
That is the view of former Blues winger Shaun Wright-Phillips, who has questioned whether the Spanish international can immediately adapt to life in the Premier League.
With a central midfielder top of City's summer shopping list, it is 22-year-old Rodri who is their number one target as a long-term replacement for Fernandinho.
The former Villarreal midfielder has a buyout clause of around £60million, a fee City are willing to pay to prise him away from the Wanda Metropolitano.
But Wright-Phillips, who made 275 appearances for the Blues across two spells, believes City are going to find it very difficult to replace 34-year-old Fernandinho .
"There is the question of the ageing Fernandinho. How do you replace someone like him because for me I voted for him as the player of the year this year," he told 888sport .
"I heard there was a rumour about that holding midfielder at Atletico, Rodri but does he know about what it takes to play in the Premier League?
"Fernandinho grabbed onto that quickly but not a lot of players can do that. So do you buy one that is proven in the Premier League or do you buy one proven world-wide?"
Read the full 888sport interview with Shaun Wright-Philips, including this thoughts on why Foden can break into the City first team and get even better
