A chuckling Pep Guardiola decided to ask the room for any suggestions.
Kyle Walker’s suspension, Joao Cancelo’s illness and Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake’s pre-existing injuries mean his defence for the second leg of the Champions League clash with Sporting Lisbon could be a case of “any warm body”.
That 5-0 first-leg lead certainly looks even more useful now.
“I don’t know. Tell me solutions! I’m thinking too,” Guardiola said at his pre-match news conference when discussing Wednesday's right-back quandary.
“Fernandinho maybe. I don’t know. We are going to see. I will speak with the players, we have some players in the academy.”
Youth team right-back CJ Egan-Riley trained with the first team on Tuesday and could be in for a surprise Champions League debut, although we shouldn’t dismiss Guardiola’s suggestion from the other end of the age spectrum out of hand.
Fernandinho might have been earmarked for dropping in at centre-back, given Guardiola can ill afford anything to happen to John Stones or Aymeric Laporte as Dias and Ake remain sidelined.
That could still happen but, although it’s been a while, the veteran Brazilian has played at right-back before and it came at a crucial period in Guardiola’s City project.
A key factor in Pep’s first season at the Etihad Stadium failing to yield a trophy was his full-backs not being up to standard. Although fine servants over the years, Pablo Zabaleta, Gael Clichy, Aleksandar Kolarov and Bacary Sagna were all in the autumn of their careers.
It’s tantalising to imagine how good prime Zabaleta and Clichy would have been in a Guardiola system but we only got to see fleeting glances of this - Zaba’s no-nonsense shackling of Neymar during the 3-1 Champions League group stage win over Barcelona springs instantly to mind.
During the second half of the season, the title having already slipped away, Guardiola revered largely to his trusty 4-3-3 and, with the newly arrived Gabriel Jesus hitting the ground running, he started to put building blocks in place for what would be an all-conquering attack over the years to come.
That meant the odd stop-gap call further back and Fernandinho initially featured at right-back in a couple of home games against Swansea City and Liverpool. He slotted in at left-back for the Champions League last-16 meeting with Monaco, which meant he was nominally picking up either Bernardo Silva or Kylian Mbappe - all the best!
Ninety minutes of utter mayhem ended 5-3 to City, who eventually bowed out on away goals as the tie finished 6-6 on aggregate.
The end of City’s European hopes meant even more focus on the future and, after a clunky 3-5-2 stumbled to a 2-2 draw at Championship-bound Middlesbrough, Guardiola made a decision.
In May, City would be playing 4-3-3 and Fernandinho would be playing at right-back, operating inside and outside in that Philipp Lahm style.
Crystal Palace, Leicester City, West Brom and Watford did not represent the most taxing run-in, but City won all four of those games by a combined score of 15-2. Palace and Watford were each thumped 5-0.
The makeshift full-back even scored in the latter game and chants of “Der der der der der der - Fernandinho!” soundtracked a sunkissed afternoon at Vicarage Road.
But the main benefit of those matches was Kevin De Brunye and David Silva grooving their relationship as dual number eights, while Jesus, Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane all got through enjoyable work in the front three.
Guardiola’s City were ready for lift-off and Fernandinho went on to be key to all those highs. There is, of course, peak left to scale in Europe.
“Fernandinho has been in all the meetings we have done together for six years,” Guardiola said of his old lieutenant “He knows exactly, before we make a meeting, exactly what we have to do.”
Out of contract and 37 and the end of the season, Wednesday could theoretically be Fernandinho’s final Champions League start at the Etihad Stadium. If it comes with him out of position and doing a selfless job for teammates and a manager who adore him then it would be a fitting farewell.
