- Man City linked with January swoop for Fred
- Report claims they could launch a £40m bid for Brazilian ace
- Shakhtar star would add more depth and cover for compatriot Fernandinho
- READ MORE: Manchester City eye £25m deal for the ‘new Paul Pogba’, wonderkid will replace Yaya Toure
Man City boss Pep Guardiola doesn’t seemingly need to strengthen his squad in January, but reports claim he could splash out £40m on Fred.
The Premier League leaders are 12 points clear at the top of the table and remain on course for an historic quadruple as they still have hopes of winning the League Cup, FA Cup and Champions League too.
Guardiola though will be the first to point out that is too far in the future to think about, but the Spanish tactician has seemingly built a solid group and a side with balance this season which has led to them being in the position that they’re currently in.
Injuries have been a problem with the likes of Vincent Kompany, Benjamin Mendy and Fabian Delph currently sidelined which raises issues with the backline, while Gabriel Jesus is out of action too.
Those would arguably be the first places most would look to strengthen the Man City squad, but ESPN claim that Guardiola is looking at another defensive midfielder.
Shakhtar Donetsk’s Fred is the man in question, with the Brazilian ace valued at £40m, as per the report, and while it could be a sensible deal in the summer, it seems strange that this is Guardiola’s possible January splurge.
Along with the fact that Yaya Toure’s contract expires at the end of the season, Fernandinho has played a significant amount of football this season and turns 33 in May.
While he has played at a high level throughout his 31 appearances so far this year, the Brazilian stalwart will need competition and cover moving forward if City are to continue to compete on various fronts.
In turn, perhaps it is a smart decision to move for Fred this month to give them a boost for the second half of the campaign, and so now it remains to be seen whether or not a switch to Manchester materialises for the 24-year-old.
Fred has made 140 appearances for Shakhtar since joining them in 2013 from Internacional, while he’s got six caps for Brazil.