Fernando was speaking at Manchester City’s Community Shield Media Day at Carrington, where he was helping out at a free soccer school.
The 27-year-old is hoping that his ball-winning qualities will help his bid to cement a place in Manchester City’s starting XI this year. Competition will be tough, however, with Yaya Toure, Fernandinho and Frank Lampard all vying for spots.
Indeed, Fernando has revealed that fans nicknamed him “The Octopus” after a great performance in Porto’s 2-2 draw against Manchester United in a Champions League quarter-final first leg at Old Trafford in 2009.
“At the time United had a very strong team. They had Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney was playing really well. I played really well and stole quite a lot of balls. It was as if I had a lot of legs. That’s why they started calling me The Octopus.”
His new team-mates, meanwhile, have already worked out a way to avoid confusion on the field with Fernandinho.
“They are calling me ‘Nando’ and him “Fay’,” he said.
“City are already a very attacking team, with some great attacking players but my strength is my defensive game so hopefully that can stop teams hurting us on the counter-attack,” he concluded.
