Saint Etienne: Fernandes Leaves Eastlands For Southern France

Swiss holding midfielder Gelson Fernandes has left Manchester City for Saint Etienne for an undisclosed fee after slipping down the Eastlands' pecking order due to the arrivals of Vincent Kompany and Nigel de Jong.

With the World Cup approaching, Fernandes will have been eager to drive for a regular starting position for Switzerland by impressing at club level and the prospects of achieving this at the City of Manchester Stadium were diminishing ever since Mark Hughes replaced Sven Goran Eriksson as manager.

A statement issued on Manchester City's official website read:

Manchester City can confirm that Gelson Fernandes has joined French side St Etienne for an undisclosed fee.

The Swiss midfielder moved to City from FC Sion in July 2007, and made his debut in the Carling Cup win over Bristol City a month later.

Gelson made 59 appearances for City, scoring four times, but he was increasingly used as a substitute after Mark Hughes took over as Blues’ boss.

He now moves to the southern part of France to the side managed by former Portsmouth manager Alain Perrin. His command of several languages helped make Gelson a popular member of the squad, and he goes with the best wishes for the future of everyone connected to Manchester City.