Manchester United: The 25-year-old Brazilian midfielder, Frederico Rodrigues de Paula Santos (Fred), has agreed to join the English club, Manchester United F.C. However, he’s yet to complete his medical test and will be announced officially after medical team shows the green flag.
The midfielder is being signed from Ukrainian club, Shakhtar Donetsk, for an alleged amount of £47m ($63m), according to Eurosport. The midfielder has also been selected for the FIFA World Cup 2018. He signed for Shakhtar on 26 June 2013. In the last January transfer window, he was linked with a move to the Premier League winners, Manchester City.
#MUFC is delighted to announce it has reached an agreement with Shakhtar Donetsk for the transfer of Fred.
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) June 5, 2018
More details: https://t.co/uQM1R6bmgH pic.twitter.com/52Kg4k2jT8
Why Fred at Manchester United?
Jose Mourinho, the Manchester United manager, was in need of some midfielder recruitments as he wasn’t satisfied with his current midfielders. He made many changes in the midfield starting-11 during the 2017-18 season. His main midfielder, Marouane Fellaini, was injured for the most part of the season.
Speculations suggest that the Belgian midfielder has asked to amp the pay offered in his new contract which the club is refusing to do. If this remains a stalemate, consequently he could leave the club.
There are speculations of outings of more midfielders as Mourinho is focusing on winning the 2018-19 Premier League.
Fred is in the prime of his playing career and could play a significant part in Jose’s next season’s plans. He can play as an attacking midfielder and defensive midfielder role as well. This synergy would definitely help Jose in a lot of ways.
Another reason for signing Fred could be to replace the ageing midfielder, Nemanja Matic. He was signed by Manchester United only last summer from Chelsea, but he has only a few years left in his footballing career as he’s over 30-year-old now. He has been sent off on leave by Mourhino in the past, The Metro noted. the Serbian midfielder looked ragged while playing for United.
And was outplayed on many occasions by opposition’s players. It’d be the best option to replace him with the Brazilian midfielder.
Fred's possible contribution to the team
Fred could prove to be a valuable asset for the team as he’s proved his worth in his former clubs. His passing prowess could help the United striker, Romelu Lukaku in scoring more goals and his defensive midfield skills can help the defenders in taking in the out of harm's way.
Manchester United F.C will again be participating in four competitions in the next season. The former Shakhtar midfielder can help the team in times of match-packed weeks if Jose doesn’t start him regularly. And he can operate alongside the French midfielder, Paul Pogba which would give the team more attacking strength.