Manchester United will be in the market for a central midfielder or two over the summer following Michael Carrick’s retirement announcement and the potential of Marouane Fellaini leaving.
Fellaini is in the final few months of his current deal at Old Trafford and has yet to put pen to paper over a new deal whilst strongly being linked with a move to the Turkish Super Lig.
We have already been linked with a number of possible replacements since the January transfer window, and now Shakhtar Donetsk’s CEO has hinted who we could make a move for over the summer.
Brazilian midfielder Fred was strongly linked with a move to Manchester City during the winter transfer window but no deal happened. Last month he was the linked with making a £50 million switch to the Etihad, but once again nothing materialised.
Now the Ukrainian side’s CEO, Sergei Palkin, announced in an interview with Italian outlet Corriere dello Sport that Fred could join Manchester Unitedin the summer.
Palkin said:
“Fred isn’t already at Manchester City, but he will surely leave in June. If not to City, then Manchester United. He’s ready for the next stage, because as well as being good, he’s also very professional. If he asked us to stay another year, we’d let him.”
This would suggest we have expressed interest in the 25-year-old and if the Times are accurate and Shakhtar Donetsk value Fred at £50 million, then this price would certainly be not out of our price range.
Fred scored a stunning free kick to help Shakhtar Donetsk beat AS Roma 2-1 in the first leg of their Champions League second round tie three weeks ago. The midfielder is an excellent holding midfielder and is a good passer of the ball too.
