Mourinho gets a samba heartbeat
JOSE MOURINHO admitted several months ago he wanted a Brazilian influence in his Manchester United team – and now he has one.
Brazil midfielder Fred has become Mourinho’s first signing of the summer after completing a £52million move from Shakhtar Donetsk.
The 25-year-old, who is in his country’s World Cup squad, has been likened to compatriot Fernandinho, who made the switch from Shakhtar to Manchester City in 2013.
Fred arrived in the Northwest on Friday ahead of Brazil’s friendly with Croatia at Anfield two days later. He stayed in Liverpool with his team-mates before being given permission to leave and complete a medical at United’s Carrington training ground, signing a four-year contract with an option for a further season.
City boss Pep Guardiola admitted he was very impressed when Fred played against his side in the Champions League group stages last season. City were in the running to sign him but dropped their interest in January and have instead targeted Napoli’s Brazilian-turned-Italian Jorginho.
After losing the retired Michael Carrick and with outof-contract Marouane Fellaini also set to exit, Mourinho said re-stocking his midfield was vital for a title challenge.
And in Fred he is getting a pocket dynamo – a stocky, left-footed box-to-box midfielder who can tackle, score, create and run.
He will ease the pressure on Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic in midfield, although the move raises questions over Ander Herrera’s long-term future at the club.
Born in Belo Horizonte, Fred moved to Europe in 2013 from Brazilian club Internacional and enjoyed success during five years in Ukraine.
He claimed three league titles, three Ukrainian Cups and four Ukrainian Super Cups, while also helping Shakhtar reach the Champions League knock-out stages last season. Fred’s career however has not been without controversy. In 2015, he was given a one-year ban after he tested positive for a banned diuretic, backdated to June when the test was carried out. But the suspension applied only to games sanctioned by Conmebol, the South American football confederation.
After his medical at United, Fred returned to London, linking up with his Brazil team-mates at Tottenham’s training base, where they are preparing for their final World Cup warm-up against Austria in Vienna on Sunday.
Depending on Brazil’s progress in the tournament, Fred may yet feature on United’s pre-season tour of the United States. The team will fly to Los Angeles on July 15 but only players who exit the World Cup before the quarter-finals are expected to join.
United have been keen to conduct their transfer business before the World Cup starts and are close to making Porto right-back Diogo Dalot their second signing.
The 19-year-old missed the end of Porto’s title-winning season with a knee injury but it is understood he has passed a medical and the deal is expected to be announced this week after United agreed to pay his £17.4m release clause.
That will take United’s summer spending to around £70m but they hope to recoup some of it from the sale of right-back Matteo Darmian to Juventus – although the clubs are still apart on their valuation – and utility player Daley Blind, who is a target for Inter Milan and several other European clubs.
Jose is getting a pocket dynamo who can do it all