Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hopes Brazilian midfielder Fred ‘will take another step’ forward at Old Trafford this season.
The Brazilian midfielder did not enjoy a successful first year at the club, and struggled for regular starts due to his inconsistent performances.
Fred, 26, has even been linked a move away from United this summer. According to Fotomac, as cited by Sport Witness, Turkish side Galatasaray had made a loan offer of €2m for the midfielder, who made just 17 Premier League appearances last term.
However, Fred recently joined up with the first-team squad in Singapore following and it doesn’t look like Solskjaer has any interest in letting him go this summer.
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“I think you’re not surprised when a player from Brazil who’s played in Ukraine finds it a little bit hard in the beginning,” Solskjaer said as quoted by Manchester Evening News.
“But we know the talent is there we’ve seen towards the end of the season what Fred can give us, the PSG game, Arsenal, Man City.”
“And, of course, he’s one that we hope is going to take another step this season. Hopefully him missing 10 days of pre-season won’t set him back too much.
Fred’s £52m move last summer (Guardian) has not yet helped solve the current issues in midfield. The recent departures of Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini mean Fred will need to step up this season and prove why United spent so much on him.
Solskjaer rightly pointed out a handful of impressive performances from the Brazilian last season, but it is more important that he can consistently perform week in, week out for the Reds.
United face Inter Milan on Saturday at the Singapore National Stadium in the third game of the pre-season tour.
