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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
According to The Sun, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has held conversations with Fred to reassure him that the midfielder remains a part of his first-team plans for next season.
What’s the word?
Reports in recent weeks had suggested that the Brazil international could be on his way out of Old Trafford this summer, despite only joining from Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk last year.
However, The Sun claim that Solskjaer has “big aspirations” for the 26-year-old and that he wants to help him adjust to the pace and intensity of English football.
The indoor football skills in the video below have to be seen to be believed…
The report adds that United have already turned down many loan enquiries for the midfielder from clubs across Europe, and that there is hope that Fred can still enjoy a fine career at Old Trafford.
Time to shine
Arriving in a £52m deal, much was expected of Fred in his first season at United, following claims that the Red Devils had beaten off competition from local rivals Manchester City to his signature.
However, the Brazilian – valued at £27m by Transfermarkt – endured a rather difficult campaign and struggled to nail down a place in the first-team; indeed, over the course of the season, Fred made just 25 appearances for the club in total and only 17 of those came in the Premier League.
What the midfielder perhaps needs to truly ensure he has the chance to shine, is clarity over the role he will be playing. The 26-year-old alternated between a holding role (five games) and a more orthodox central midfield position (16 games) last term, and his lack of positional awareness was exposed by the rip-roaring speed of the Premier League.
At Shakhtar though, he was tasked with helping to win the ball back from the holding role in a 4-2-3-1, before initiating moves with his incisive passing into the more advanced midfield players. Indeed, in the Ukrainian outfit’s Champions League run in the 2017/2018 season, Fred averaged 2.9 tackles, 1.1 interceptions and 56.8 passes per game.
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It was the kind of all-around midfield action United bought him for; instead, the lack of a clearly defined role at Old Trafford saw his numbers in all categories take a massive dip with just 1.7 tackles, 0.9 interceptions and 45.2 passes per game in the league.
Despite the significant loss of Ander Herrera, Fred may be the one to truly benefit from the Spaniard leaving as he looks to make that role of being the side’s industrious midfielder his own. It will simply be up to Solskjaer himself to truly recognise what position Fred best suits.
