Fernandinho has revealed how he fought tooth and nail to convince Shakhtar Donetsk to release him.
The 28-year old midfielder signed with Manchester City last week for a fee of around £30million but not before some serious negotiating with the Ukrainian giants.
"I'm relieved," he told Globo. "It was a big battle. The negotiations were intense, took several days and I even abandoned my vacation.
"Everybody left after the league was over but I stayed in Ukraine to convince the club to release me as the buy-out fee was really very high and nobody would pay that.
"When the first offer came in, they said no. I insisted a lot in order to convince the manager, the board and even the captain.
"I had meetings with the president who promised he would talk with Man City if an offer of 40 million Euros came, which finally happened.
"The truth is that I wanted to leave Shakhtar after eight years there. I told them this. As I was loved there, respected by the fans and within the club, they gave up.
"But I think they demanded such a high fee just to find out how much Man City wanted to sign me. Also, knowing Ukrainian culture, they were afraid someone would offer a lower fee and sign me."
