Fernandinho says Manchester City must be aware of danger man Wayne Rooney ahead of their Premier League clash with Everton on Monday night.
The striker scored on his return for his boyhood club last week -- the 1-0 win over Stoke City, which was his first Premier League appearance since his summer move from Manchester United.
Rooney struggled to secure a regular starting place in his final season at Old Trafford and lost his place in the England squad but Fernandinho insists he is far from finished.
"He's a great player, he showed that during the preseason and the first game as well," the Brazilian midfielder said. "He is a very good player and we will have to be very careful with him.
"He can score in many different ways. We will have to be close to him and not give him any chance to think or to create any chance of goal."
City want to build on their 2-0 victory over Brighton on the opening day of the season but come up against a team that took four points off them last season.
The sides drew 1-1 at the Etihad Stadium in a game that City dominated but failed to win, with Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne both missing penalties, while the Toffees won 4-0 at Goodison Park in January.
Since then Everton have lost striker Romelu Lukaku to United, however record signing Gylfi Sigurdsson could make his debut following his £45m move from Swansea City.
"It's always tough to play against a team like Everton, no matter home or away. They have a good team and good players," Fernandinho added.
"With a lot of changes they made they are getting better, they improved a lot. It's going to be a tough game on Monday night. I hope we can be ready to keep growing up and try to win our first home Premier League game."
City have been made early season favourites with Pep Guardiola spending close to £200 million improving his squad already. Fernandinho has been impressed by the impact of the new players and says they must cope with the expectations placed on them.
"There's always pressure here to win something," he added. "Since I came four years ago, the pressure is there. You always have to win. This year isn't going to be different.
"We have been together for one month already. There are many players that have been here with Pep Guardiola from last season, we already know the way he likes to play.
"The new players that have joined the squad are learning, and they are intelligent players who get it very quickly. That's not a problem at all.
"Of course, it will take some time to get everybody together. All of them [the new signings] are good. They showed it in their previous teams and we hope all of them can make the difference for us."