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Since arriving in Manchester from Shaktar Donetsk for a huge fee of around £52m, Fred has failed to live up to the hype and has been emblematic of Jose Mourinho’s transfer strategy at Manchester United. Under the new boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, however, his fortunes may be about to change.
How has Fred fared so far?
Not very well. In fairness, the Brazilian international has made just six Premier League starts since his big money move back in the summer, as Mourinho inexplicably opted to leave him out of the side despite making the midfielder his headline signing.
The 25-year-old has scored just one goal and made one assist in all competitions for the Red Devils, but we won’t blame him for that due to Mourinho’s management style and his lack of game time.
He has proved in Ukraine whilst with Shakhtar that he does have a capable long shot on him, whilst he also managed to score a fantastic free-kick in the Champions League against Roma – he has it in his locker, he just needs someone to help him find the key.
How can Solskjaer help him?
The ‘Baby Faced Assassin’ is obsessed with getting his teams to shoot on sight and attack at will, something that is evident in his training sessions whilst with Molde in which he bemoans the fact that his players are passing it from 18 yards out rather than shooting – as shown by the Mirror.
United’s goal-shy midfielders have not had this type of encouragement for almost three years now, as Mourinho’s instructions were based more on defending and sitting deep behind the ball.
With his typical Brazilian flair, ability to find the net and also contribute defensively, Fred should be the one that Solskjaer builds his team around along with Paul Pogba – he could just become an elite box-to-box goalscoring midfielder under the 45-year-old Norwegian’s tutelage.