Ben Guest
Manchester United have completed the £52 million signing of Brazilian midfielder Fred.
The Red Devils are keen to bolster their midfield this summer, with Michael Carrick having retired and Marouane Fellaini set to leave when his contract expires at the end of this month.
United have identified Fred as the ideal man, and have beaten off interested from rivals Man City, who had a £50m bid rejected for the Brazilian back in January.
He is currently with the Brazil national team at the World Cup in Russia, although hasn’t yet featured after he suffered a slight injury in the build up to the tournament.
United announced several weeks ago that they had reached an agreement to sign the Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder, but have had to wait for the necessary paperwork to be processed before announcing the completion of the deal.
Speaking to the the official club website Fred expressed his delight at moving to Old Trafford:
“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 added: “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.”