Fred the Red
Fred has completed his move to Manchester United from Shakhtar Donetsk for a fee believed to be in excess of £50 million. Fred has put pen to paper on a 5-year deal.
Fred said: “This is the biggest club in the world and I am delighted to be a part of this amazing team. To work with Jose Mourinho, who has won so many trophies in his time as a coach, is an opportunity not to be missed.
”I cannot wait to get started and to meet my new team-mates. I would like to thank everyone at Shakhtar Donetsk for everything they have done for me over the past five years.
“This is a very exciting time for me with my focus now fully on the World Cup with Brazil.”
Jose Mourinho said: “Fred will complement our other midfielders’ qualities, which we need; his creative brain and passing vision will give us another dimension to our game. I am very happy he is joining our club and I believe our players know how important he can be in our team.”
Fred’s full name is Frederico Rodrigues de Paula Santos and was born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil on 5 of March 1993. Fred is currently in Russia on World Cup 2018 duty with Brazil, where he has yet to play after suffering an injury scare before the World Cup started.
Why was the move delayed?
Manchester United announced that they had reached an agreement with Shakhtar Donetsk on 5 of June and that a further announcement was to be made. That announcement was then delayed because of work permit issues that held up the whole process until now.
#MUFC is delighted to announce it has reached an agreement with Shakhtar Donetsk for the transfer of Fred.
More details: https://t.co/uQM1R6bmgH pic.twitter.com/52Kg4k2jT8
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) June 5, 2018
Shakhtar Donetsk days
On 26 June 2013, Fred signed for Ukrainian team Shakhtar Donetsk from International in a deal believed to be worth €15 million. The 25-year-old went on to become one of their best players and is a key man in their midfield. His strong midfield performances drew the attention of some of the footballing giants and he came close to leaving in January 2018 to go to Manchester City.
Fred made a total of 156 appearances for Shakhtar Donetsk, scoring 14 goals across all completions. Brazil took note of his performances and he was selected for the national team in 2014 where has since gone on to make 8 appearances.
Scout Nations Fred video on Passing Skills, Assists & Goals:
How will he fit in?
It is still early days in the transfer market and we can all assume that this will not be the last player to arrive at Old Trafford. While Dalot may have just signed for the club he is not expected to go straight into the starting line-up and we can more likely expect to see him feature from the bench. The back four seems to be under the microscope and any of them could be replaced, although Valencia looks likely to keep his place at right back. While Martial’s future lies in the balance and Sanchez’s salary picks itself, it will be Lingard and Rashford fighting it out for the right wing spot at this point in time unless another player comes in… Bale?
So right now if we can go by Mournho’s team selection in the last couple months and the formation he used, Fred looks likely to be deployed in a midfield three alongside Pogba and Matic. This would give Rashford, Sanchez and Lukaku the freedom to go forward and try themselves at any defense.
You could also see Fred deployed as another defensive midfielder alongside Matic which could then push Pogba further forward as Mourinho tries to get the most out of his most expensive signing and potentially best player.
Roles reversed?
Fred becomes the second player in six months that Manchester United have beaten their neighbors Manchester City to after they failed to land Alexis Sanchez. Both players were expected to link up with Pep’s side only for United to swoop in and blow it wide open.
Not so long ago Manchester City were throwing money at any player United was interested in to be competitive with them. This was in the days of Sir Alex when winning the league was a regular for United fans. Back in 2010 David Silva and Yaya Toure were strongly linked to Manchester United but both made the move to the Sky Blues. Both went on to become key players and played big roles in achieving the success the club has had since 2010; 3 Premier League Titles, 1 FA Cup, 3 League Cups and 1 Community Shield.
Now the shoe looks to be on the other foot with City fans looking optimistic about a repeat performance of their last season, while United is running around trying to beat their rivals to key signings in order to mount a title challenge. United are throwing money at players at the moment to give their backing to Mourinho in the transfer market and United fans will hope that Fred will make a bigger impact in his first 6 months than Sanchez did.