Fernandes made his Manchester City debut, starting the whole game, in a 2–1 win against Bristol City in the second round of the League Cup. Two months later on 20 October 2007, he made his league debut after coming on for Elano in the 89th minute in a 1–0 victory over Birmingham City. By November, Fernandes soon established himself in the starting eleven, playing in the midfield position. He scored his first goal in a 2–0 victory against Newcastle United on 2 January 2008, after coming on as a substitute for Stephen Ireland and it took just 40 seconds for Fernandes and Kelvin Etuhu to combine for the former to finish from the edge of the box. It wasn't until on 2 February 2008 when he scored his second goal in the 1–3 loss to Arsenal at the City of Manchester Stadium when Vedran Ćorluka took advantage of a Gaël Clichy defensive error, who slipped in a pass into the six-yard box for Fernandes to tuck home. The goal was not enough to secure any points for Manchester City, but showed the City fans that Fernandes was also capable of having an eye for goal like fellow youth midfielder, Michael Johnson. At the end of the 2007–08 season, he went on to make thirty–two appearances and scoring two times in all competitions.