Hoping to improve their chances of winning the league title next season, Premier League powerhouse Manchester United have acquired the services of Brazilian midfielder Frederico Rodrigues de Paula Santos.
De Paula Santos who is commonly known as Fred signed a $65 million deal with the Reds making him the seventh Brazilian to join the team. Other Brazilians who played in the Old Trafford were Rodrigo Possebon, Anderson, Rafael, Fabio, Jese Kleberson, and Andreas Pereira.
"Manchester United is delighted to announce it has reached [an] agreement with Shakhtar Donetsk for the transfer of Frederico Rodrigues de Paula Santos," the team posted on their website.
Coincidentally, Fred will also be joining Pereira in the midfield for the Reds in the upcoming season. Other midfielders for the squad are Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Marouane Fellaini, Nemanja Matic, and Scott McTominay.
Great Signing For The Reds
This move is expected to beef up the midfield for Manchester United, who are looking to rebound from a second-place finish last season. The Reds finished with 81 points on 25 wins, six draws, and seven losses, which are way behind Manchester City's 100 points.
Aside from playing in Shakhtar, the Belo Horizonte product also suited up for Sport Club Internacional in Brazil. He scored seven goals with Internacional in 33 appearances.
Fred had a superb stint with Shakhtar as he appeared on 101 matches and was able to find the back of the net 10 times. The recent signee of Manchester United has played eight total international matches for Brazil.
The two-time Campeonato Gaucho Champion has also been instrumental to the success of Shakhtar in the past six years. It can be summoned that Fred led Shakhtar into two domestic cups as well as two league titles and two consecutive UEFA Champions League appearances.
Prior to his success abroad, Fred also played with Atletico Mineiro, Porto Alegre, and the Brazil U-20 squad. He replaced the injured Luis Gustavo in 2015 Copa America before being suspended for a year after testing positive for diuretic Hydrochlorothiazide.
Last February 21, Fred scored his first career goal in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 in Shakhtar's 2-1 victory over AS. Roma in Leg 1. However, they failed to advance into the next phase after yielding to Roma in the 2nd leg.
Interestingly, Manchester United which finished the group stages with a 5-1 (win-loss) card was also eliminated in the Round of 16 by Spanish club, Sevilla. The Reds last won the UEFA Champions League in 2008.
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