For a man who famously declared he’d like to play with ‘a thousand midfielders’, signing one in particular has proved problematic for Pep Guardiola.

In Rodri, Guardiola is hoping it is a case of fourth time lucky in his drawn-out pursuit of a long-term successor to Fernandinho.

The Atletico Madrid midfielder has completed his move to the Premier League champions on a long-term contract.

The deal ends a search that spanned four transfer windows, and forced Guardiola to admit defeat on three previous occasions.

Guardiola’s struggle to address a priority area is evidence that even his reputation and City’s spending power have their limitations. But it also points to a rather confused search - tracking targets of significantly varying profiles.

That none have been like-for-like replacements for Fernandinho only emphasises the difficulty Guardiola has had in finding his ideal man.

Take Fred, for example. The Brazil international is diminutive in stature compared to his countryman Fernandinho.

In his homeland he is considered more of a creative force than a destroyer, and a player who has looked uncomfortable in a sitting role since joining Manchester United.

Jose Mourinho, who signed him five months after City failed to agree a fee with Shakhtar Donetsk, believed he would add flair to United’s midfield – even if it is believed he felt pushed into doing a deal by United’s recruitment department.

But instead the 26-year-old has cut a frustrated figure and struggled to acclimatise to the pace and physicality of the Premier League.

City might well believe they had a lucky escape, although the state of disarray at Old Trafford must be taken into account when assessing Fred’s difficulties at United.

But considering Guardiola went into this summer determined to add aerial presence to his squad - Rodri is 6’2” - Fred, at 5’5”, was never going to provide that.

Jorginho looked a more natural fit, and was established as Guardiola’s top target last summer.

City believed a deal had been struck with Napoli and it was a matter of time before confirming his arrival.

His ability to dictate play from deep and his metronomic passing had impressed Guardiola in City’s games against the Italians - and at a cost of around £40m, he was considered value for money.

But after weeks of delays in concluding the deal, he boarded a plane to the UK, with City officials not knowing if he was bound for Manchester or London.

An inability to contact his agent didn’t help anxiety levels at the Etihad either.

Jorginho ultimately opted for Chelsea and a reunion with Maurizio Sarri, while City felt they’d been strung along by Napoli, meaning valuable time had been lost in identifying alternative targets.

Guardiola took the bold decision to hold off moving for a midfielder for another window at least, instead relying on Fernandinho’s ageing legs to get through another season of playing twice a week.

Within the first weeks of Jorginho’s arrival, the Italian very much looked like one that got away as he was instrumental in Chelsea’s impressive start to the season.

But it wasn’t long until opposing managers worked out how to nullify his influence – ordering players to sit on him, hurry his decision-making and kill the supply line.

Guardiola, himself, squeezed Jorginho out of the game to great effect in City’s 6-0 mauling of Chelsea in February.

In Pictures | Man City vs Chelsea | 10/02/2019 41 show all In Pictures | Man City vs Chelsea | 10/02/2019 1/41 Getty Images 2/41 AFP/Getty Images 3/41 AFP/Getty Images 4/41 Getty Images 5/41 Getty Images 6/41 Action Images via Reuters 7/41 Getty Images 8/41 Getty Images 9/41 Getty Images 10/41 AFP/Getty Images 11/41 Getty Images 12/41 AFP/Getty Images 13/41 Getty Images 14/41 AFP/Getty Images 15/41 Getty Images 16/41 REUTERS 17/41 Getty Images 18/41 AFP/Getty Images 19/41 Getty Images 20/41 Getty Images 21/41 AFP/Getty Images 22/41 AFP/Getty Images 23/41 AFP/Getty Images 24/41 Aguero netted his 11th Premier League hat-trick against Chelsea. PA 25/41 Getty Images 26/41 Getty Images 27/41 AP 28/41 REUTERS 29/41 REUTERS 30/41 AFP/Getty Images 31/41 AFP/Getty Images 32/41 AFP/Getty Images 33/41 AFP/Getty Images 34/41 Getty Images 35/41 AFP/Getty Images 36/41 Getty Images 37/41 Getty Images 38/41 AFP/Getty Images 39/41 AFP/Getty Images 40/41 Getty Images 41/41 Getty Images 1/41 Getty Images 2/41 AFP/Getty Images 3/41 AFP/Getty Images 4/41 Getty Images 5/41 Getty Images 6/41 Action Images via Reuters 7/41 Getty Images 8/41 Getty Images 9/41 Getty Images 10/41 AFP/Getty Images 11/41 Getty Images 12/41 AFP/Getty Images 13/41 Getty Images 14/41 AFP/Getty Images 15/41 Getty Images 16/41 REUTERS 17/41 Getty Images 18/41 AFP/Getty Images 19/41 Getty Images 20/41 Getty Images 21/41 AFP/Getty Images 22/41 AFP/Getty Images 23/41 AFP/Getty Images 24/41 Aguero netted his 11th Premier League hat-trick against Chelsea. PA 25/41 Getty Images 26/41 Getty Images 27/41 AP 28/41 REUTERS 29/41 REUTERS 30/41 AFP/Getty Images 31/41 AFP/Getty Images 32/41 AFP/Getty Images 33/41 AFP/Getty Images 34/41 Getty Images 35/41 AFP/Getty Images 36/41 Getty Images 37/41 Getty Images 38/41 AFP/Getty Images 39/41 AFP/Getty Images 40/41 Getty Images 41/41 Getty Images

His lack of mobility and failure to produce decisive balls in an attacking capacity were soon identified as serious flaws in his make-up, again raising questions as to just how successful he would have been at City.

Compare that to Fernandinho’s boundless energy, even at the tail-end of his career, and his influence as a defensive and attacking force.

Such was Guardiola’s complete lack of an alternative after missing out on two targets in the space of six months that it was a case of back to the drawing board.

Ajax’s Frenkie de Jong emerged as the outstanding candidate - and even though Barcelona were among a host Europe’s giants tracking the Dutchman, confidence was high that City would win the race.

Sources close to Guardiola enthused about his admiration for the player, but he revealed his own concerns about securing a deal when confessing in January: “Normally when you are involved with Madrid and Barcelona you are going to lose.”

In truth, the Catalan had already begun drawing up alternatives with director of football Txiki Begiristain.

Tanguy Ndombele had impressed Guardiola with the manner in which he dominated City’s midfield for Lyon in two Champions League games.

Real Madrid’s Marcos Llorente was another who had caught his eye.

Yet it was Rodri - a man described as the new Sergio Busquets - who had been installed at the top of City’s wanted list.

A £62.7m buyout clause was high after just one season at Atletico, and higher than the figures City simply refused to meet for Fred or Jorginho.

But in a heavily-inflated market, it could well look a bargain - and the lack of negotiating required meant City knew it would be an easy deal to wrap up after the frustrations of the Jorginho deal 12 months ago.

The only stumbling block was the player’s own thoughts.

He was torn between staying with Atleti or taking one of the offers on the table from City or Bayern Munich.

It was a measure of City concerns in recent weeks that they made it clear they were willing to press ahead with Ndombele or Llorente if a decision wasn’t made soon.

When Rodri informed Bayern he wouldn’t be heading to the Bundesliga, it left Guardiola in pole position – and ends a long and frustrating search that City will hope was worth the wait.