Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said that Fred will not be leaving the club, saying that the Brazilian will play ‘plenty’ of football this season.
The 26-year-old midfielder came to Old Trafford from Shakhtar Donetsk last summer. In his first season at Manchester United, Fred made 25 appearances across all competitions, scoring a goal and providing an assist.
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This season, the Brazilian international is yet to make Solskjaer’s squad for any of their matches with the likes of Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay getting the starts while Nemanja Matic is on the bench. He was linked to Fiorentina with Italian newspaper La Nazione (via the Sun) claiming that the Serie A club made a bid of £18 million for the 26-year-old.
However, Solskjaer has said that Fred is not leaving Old Trafford and feels that the Brazilian will receive a lot of game time this season. Speaking to Manchester United’s official website, the Norwegian said: “He [Fred] is working hard and at the moment he’s just behind Paul [Pogba] and Scott [McTominay] – who has done really well – and Nemanja [Matic], who hasn’t been involved. August is the most difficult period to manage a big squad because there’s only one game a week and everybody’s fit because we’ve had pre-season, and everyone’s ready to play.
“In September, October, November – when injuries come – that’s when you have most of the games. So, he [Fred] will play plenty of football.”
Pogba has been in terrific form for Manchester United and the young McTominay is turning out to be a pretty talented player whose emergence has seen Matic being confined to the bench. Hence, it will be very tough for Fred to gain first-team opportunities. However, the 26-year-old can easily find a great deal of game time in the Cup and Europa League matches.
