Fred is moving to Fenerbahce. Did his transfer pay off for Manchester United or was it a flop?

Comment: Brazilian midfielder Fred leaves Manchester United at the age of 30 after five years at the club. The Atlético Mineiro graduate was bought by Jose Mourinho for 59 million euros at the time. Was the purchase worth it?

José Mourinho brought Fred to the red part of Manchester from Shakhtar Donetsk. He was supposed to be the perfect complement to Paul Pogba. He came in as a box-to-box midfielder with high expectations. He was to give the then most expensive footballer in history more freedom on the pitch. Pogba wouldn’t have to run and defend as much thanks to Fred. Neither of which the Frenchman is known to be too fond of.

Even at the beginning of his career, Fred showed that it would not be easy. He was weak in the Premier League in personal duels and although he covered a lot of space on the pitch, the ball was in his way. He fumbled simple passes, lost balls easily and such a lapse in the middle of the park is not commendable.

Mourinho was sacked after six months and replaced by club icon Ole Gunnar Solskjær. Initially, his tenure didn’t rely on Fred and so he didn’t play much. However, it must be remembered that Fred was part of the starting line-up in the Champions League in the memorable duel against Paris Saint-Germain.

The Red Devils were 2 goals down after the first leg and won the return leg 3-1 after Marcus Rashford converted a penalty at the end of the game to send Manchester through.

Fred has been a cornerstone of the team since the 2019/20 season. Along with Pogba, McTominay and later Fernandes, he reigned over the midfield. However, the reign is just a term. Fred still spoiled simple passes, was weak in personal duels, but probably the favourite of the Norwegian coach.

The match workload doubled between the first and second season. Not just in the number of games, but especially in minutes. Fans made the Fred – McTominay center pairing into a meme and shortened the name to “McFred”.

The goal stats are meaningless with Fred, as he is more of a pick player who is more likely to take chances or clear space for his offensive teammates. Anyway, even after the sacking of Solskjær, the nightmare of United fans didn’t end as Ragnick also deployed the aforementioned central pairing.

The rescue was only Erik ten Haag, who brought on Eriksen and Casemire, who gradually pushed Fred out. The fans must have been greatly relieved. However, it was Fred who came through in the Europa League double-header with Barcelona and helped his team to progress.

Was Fred a FLOP or a TOP? Although at least some of the investment has been returned to the club, the performance cannot be judged positively. Mainly by failing to refine his passing in five years. For me, Fred is a FLOP. Of course this is my opinion and someone else may think otherwise.

Source: Fabrizio Romano, Transfermarkt