Fred - £47m well spent

[Shakesy]

Can't believe he cost this much

Still, I think the Fred-hate is over the top. He is a decent squad member. Feck, he plays for the BRA national team every now and again. He's not that bad. But 47mil? That's a lot

 

[Fluctuation0161]

Fairly sure Fred was coming off a stand out season in his position in the CL where he was one of their best players against city and Juve amongst others. I can’t fully remember the opposition off the top of my head. City were also in for him for around 50 million in the January window but Shaktar wouldn’t sell. I get that a lot of people don’t rate him but I genuinely think his partners in there are as much of a problem as he is.

Because he come off the back of a doping ban. So he had been resting for a long time before his stand out season at Shaktar. And before that, all he was possibly doping.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_(footballer,_born_1993)

All that aside, he lacks the mentality to be a consistently good footballer for a top team.

 

[Based Adnan]

Genuinely baffled by those that think he's been a good signing. Longevity doesn't equal success. If it was up to you would you sign him all over again? For me it's a resounding no.

 

[Red the Bear]

47 mill doesn't look that bad in this day and age.

 

[GledTheRed]

Fumbling around like he’d downed 5 snakebites at half time.

The last ten mins was truly amatuer.

 

[NotQuiteManc]

Last night was his worst performances. It was as if he hasn't learned anything from EtH. He is good as squad/rotational player, at most.

 

[ThinkTank@Cafe]

Not a first eleven level but good back up. £47M was a bit steep at the time.

 

[fezzerUTD]

Fumbling around like he’d downed 5 snakebites at half time.

The last ten mins was truly amatuer.

 

[Chief123]

He’s not been a success at all. Being our “best option” available at times doesn’t qualify as success. In fact he’s been a failure because his acquisition has prevented us from acquiring someone who is competent in the position.

 

[youngrell]

Do you reckon Brazilians tell themselves 'he plays for Man United, so he can't be that bad'?

I actually don't mind him if he's far away from our goal, but games like last night when Casemiro is missing he is all over the place (in a bad way).

 

[Zed 101]

By any standard the answer is no, trophies won, league position, performance compared to midfielders sold since for lower fees.... cannot really think of anything to justify the price tag, I like the guy but even now I would say £25m was his top value and he is no good enough to be a starter in a top 6 team

 

[DSG]

Do you reckon Brazilians tell themselves 'he plays for Man United, so he can't be that bad'?

I actually don't mind him if he's far away from our goal, but games like last night when Casemiro is missing he is all over the place (in a bad way).

He has a small subset of skills where he is truly elite. Workrate and pressing. These do not make up for sub par passing accuracy, slow ball movement (both him and Scotty take too many touches), poor shooting, poor defensive positioning, poor ball retention, poor ball progression, etc. It says something that Eriksen, not known for his defensive prowess is a much better defender than Fred because he understands how and when to defend in space.

When you have two world class DMs around him in the Brazilian national team, Fred can operate well as an attack dog ball winning midfielder who recycles possession.

 

[Abraxas]

47 million is a very mediocre sum. Many would say he's a pretty mediocre player. But still, it really is nothing special as a fee. This is Man Utd, it's pretty hard to get absolute bargains and the man plays for Brazil. Look at what West Ham paid for Paqueta. Again nothing outstanding as a footballer. The fact is the going rate for mediocrity is quite high, which is an unfortunate feature of the way football financing works these days. Average players go for too much and get paid too much.

 

[Gandalf]

Last night was a great reminder of all the things he does badly. He does two things rather well;

1. He is great coming off the bench for the last 20 minutes, he injects energy into the team and presses like a maniac in these situations.
2. He is an extremely effective man marker, need an oppo player effectively erased from the game, Fred is your man.

Pushed into a starting role in a double pivot and he has always and will always be a total liability. Playing Linda alongside Marcel would possibly have been a better option and I can think of no more damning statement than that.

 

[Based Adnan]

47 million is a very mediocre sum. Many would say he's a pretty mediocre player. But still, it really is nothing special as a fee. This is Man Utd, it's pretty hard to get absolute bargains and the man plays for Brazil. Look at what West Ham paid for Paqueta. Again nothing outstanding as a footballer. The fact is the going rate for mediocrity is quite high, which is an unfortunate feature of the way football financing works these days. Average players go for too much and get paid too much.

Arsenal got Partey for £45M, Liverpool got Fabinho for £39M, Chelsea got Kovacic for £40M, City got Gundogan for £20M, Spurs got Hojberg for £15M, Newcastle got Bruno for £40M.

All vastly superior players for less than what Fred cost. Just because our recruitment has been a mess it doesn't mean we should consider an average at best player for £47M an ok signing. There's a massive gap between an absolute bargain and Fred for £47M which we could have signed a player in.

 

[Ish]

He wasn't signed to provide cover in CM, he was signed to start and in that sense, he's been a failed signing, IMO.

He's got a horrible "bottom level" for a Brazillian international footballer.

 

[I’m loving my life]

He is no better than Lingard for running around a lot and losing the ball.

Offers no defensive protection

Messes up attacks

Almost single-handedly cost us the game yesterday

Needs to go- but we are somehow relying on him now which could legitimately cost us top 4

 

[Abraxas]

Arsenal got Partey for £45M, Liverpool got Fabinho for £39M, Chelsea got Kovacic for £40M, City got Gundogan for £20M, Spurs got Hojberg for £15M, Newcastle got Bruno for £40M.

All vastly superior players for less than what Fred cost. Just because our recruitment has been a mess it doesn't mean we should consider an average at best player for £47M an ok signing. There's a massive gap between an absolute bargain and Fred for £47M which we could have signed a player in.

I'd say that's exactly what it is. An okay signing. If he had been poor every week and contributed nothing to Manchester United he'd be a poor signing. I can name one Dutchman who fits that particular description.

But I think the balanced view should probably be that this isn't the case. He has been very useful to us for periods, in fact there have been times where he was our best midfielder and we would have been a worse side without him as a result. Albeit it usually ends up in frustation due to his inconsistent technique and the performances that results in. What is that body of work to be valued at? 30 million, 35 million? I don't know, but for me I dont find 47 million to be a staggering fee because the marketplace is generally inflated.

Yes there have been better signings for better fees but that's recruitment. It doesn't neccessarily mean it falls into the category of poor for me. It just means we could and should do better, that's always the case when a signing is just okay and I think we have done better with the value for money we got out of Casemiro and Eriksen for a combined 60 million.

 

[Valencia's Left Foot]

Fred is a fantastic squad player. Great attitude, hard worker and from time to time can show some real class. Just have to deal with some real stinkers here and there, but I'm glad he's with the club.

 

[BuzzKillington]

Arsenal got Partey for £45M, Liverpool got Fabinho for £39M, Chelsea got Kovacic for £40M, City got Gundogan for £20M, Spurs got Hojberg for £15M, Newcastle got Bruno for £40M.

All vastly superior players for less than what Fred cost. Just because our recruitment has been a mess it doesn't mean we should consider an average at best player for £47M an ok signing. There's a massive gap between an absolute bargain and Fred for £47M which we could have signed a player in.

That’s a pretty selective list. Arsenal also got Pepe for £70m, Liverpool got Keita for £53m, Chelsea got Bakayoko & Drinkwater for £35m each, Spurs got Ndombele for £60m, as for the Geordies give them some time, they’re new at this. He’s worse than the players on your list but better than the ones on mine, I’d argue he’s better than Bakayoko and Drinkwater if you glued them together and called them one player.

 

[TheNewEra]

Don't renew

 

[Gandalf]

Arsenal got Partey for £45M, Liverpool got Fabinho for £39M, Chelsea got Kovacic for £40M, City got Gundogan for £20M, Spurs got Hojberg for £15M, Newcastle got Bruno for £40M.

All vastly superior players for less than what Fred cost. Just because our recruitment has been a mess it doesn't mean we should consider an average at best player for £47M an ok signing. There's a massive gap between an absolute bargain and Fred for £47M which we could have signed a player in.

Sorry, not his biggest fan but I will literally fight anyone who says Hojberg is a superior player to Fred. Fabinho is debatable too, for an 18 month spell perhaps but his form for over a year now has been woeful and even at his best he was frequently kept on the bench for Brazil by Fred.

 

[Bastian]

47 mill doesn't look that bad in this day and age.

The top 20 in England at the time:

Kepa 71m
Mahrez 60m
Keita 48m
Fred 47m
Fabinho 39m
Richarlison 35m
Mina 27m
Torreira 26m
Lerma 25m
Anguissa 22m
Diop 22m
Mawson 20m
Leno 19m
Dalot 19m
Soyuncu 19m
Digne 18m
Traore 18m
Kongolo 17m
Elyounoussi 16m
Gibson 15m

Not a lot of value for money there. Traore, Digne, Richarlison, Fabinho and Mahrez the best purchases it seems. We could have done with signing Fabinho ahead of Fred for sure. Then some definite value for money deals:

Bamford 10m
Moutinho 5m
Evans 3.5m
Schar 3m

But we all knew at the time, or 2 games in, that 47m for Fred was double what he was worth.

 

[Escobar]

Just sell him in summer for good

 

[Flexdegea]

He was beyond shocking yesterday.


Does anyone have stats on how many times he lost the ball?


Never seen a player be the last man before centre backs give the ball away to opposition putting us under pressure. I know it's not his normal position but it's ridiculous how rash he is

 

[Red the Bear]

The top 20 in England at the time:

Kepa 71m
Mahrez 60m
Keita 48m
Fred 47m
Fabinho 39m
Richarlison 35m
Mina 27m
Torreira 26m
Lerma 25m
Anguissa 22m
Diop 22m
Mawson 20m
Leno 19m
Dalot 19m
Soyuncu 19m
Digne 18m
Traore 18m
Kongolo 17m
Elyounoussi 16m
Gibson 15m

Not a lot of value for money there. Traore, Digne, Richarlison, Fabinho and Mahrez the best purchases it seems. We could have done with signing Fabinho ahead of Fred for sure. Then some definite value for money deals:

Bamford 10m
Moutinho 5m
Evans 3.5m
Schar 3m

But we all knew at the time, or 2 games in, that 47m for Fred was double what he was worth.

Looking at those numbers you get the feel that was eons ago that we signed him, the transfer numbers sure had massive explosion in size around that time.

All in all I wouldn't get upset over what we paid for Fred, we were mess back then, it wouldn't have changed much.

 

[Bastian]

Looking at those numbers you get the feel that was eons ago that we signed him, the transfer numbers sure had massive explosion in size around that time.

All in all I wouldn't get upset over what we paid for Fred, we were mess back then, it wouldn't have changed much.

I remember Mourinho talking about buying a Brazilian and that it's good for every team to have a Brazilian. All in all I'd say Fred has been a poor acquisition though he's had his uses as a squad player, especially against better sides when we were playing counter attacking underdog football.

Going forward I hope we sign a suitable partner for Casemiro for the first XI this summer and have Eriksen in reserve alongside Mejbri and a capable understudy to Casemiro. I'd let both Fred and McTominay go. I like McTominay, I just don't think he's anywhere near good enough. And neither is Fred.

 

[jnooge]

The top 20 in England at the time:

Kepa 71m
Mahrez 60m
Keita 48m
Fred 47m
Fabinho 39m
Richarlison 35m
Mina 27m
Torreira 26m
Lerma 25m
Anguissa 22m
Diop 22m
Mawson 20m
Leno 19m
Dalot 19m
Soyuncu 19m
Digne 18m
Traore 18m
Kongolo 17m
Elyounoussi 16m
Gibson 15m

Not a lot of value for money there. Traore, Digne, Richarlison, Fabinho and Mahrez the best purchases it seems. We could have done with signing Fabinho ahead of Fred for sure. Then some definite value for money deals:

Bamford 10m
Moutinho 5m
Evans 3.5m
Schar 3m

But we all knew at the time, or 2 games in, that 47m for Fred was double what he was worth.

Although he is inconsistent. Right now, he is a back up CM so we can't expect to get anymore out of him... For what we paid and how long we've had him, he has been a good buy. He is rarely injured and has stepped up when needed, up to his ability level anyway.

We absolutely need better players throughout but i think with 1 of rice/ bellingham/ sabitzer we keep fred as another option/back up.

 

[Fahad Jawaid]

We have had our pants pulled down on this one unfortunately. He is similar to Onana or Gueye type player. When Arsenal got the likes of Partey and Odegaard for 30 odd million, he looks like a very overpriced player.

The thing is he is there just to disrupt the rhythm of the other team, and just for pressing and running abilities. I am sure we can find 10 players like him in the french league alone with high stamina and workrate for 15 to million tops.

He is like our Andy Carroll signing. Whoever agreed to pay 50 million needs to be sacked asap.

 

[L1nk]

We have had our pants pulled down on this one unfortunately. He is similar to Onana or Gueye type player. When Arsenal got the likes of Partey and Odegaard for 30 odd million, he looks like a very overpriced player.

The thing is he is there just to disrupt the rhythm of the other team, and just for pressing and running abilities. I am sure we can find 10 players like him in the french league alone with high stamina and workrate for 15 to million tops.

He is like our Andy Carroll signing. Whoever agreed to pay 50 million needs to be sacked asap.

Sabitzer will basically do his job - but better, once Casemiro returns

 

[Galactic]

Fred is a fantastic squad player. Great attitude, hard worker and from time to time can show some real class. Just have to deal with some real stinkers here and there, but I'm glad he's with the club.

I agree 100%.

The 47m price tag is not his fault anyway. I’m sure he was at 30m max. We get screwed over purchase negotiations just by being United.

 

[Kostov]

It shows how far we have fallen and how much standards have dropped and United fans have gotten used to such little quality, in which Fred at 47m is somehow being portrayed as a good buy.

An absolutely shit midfield player, with so little quality on the ball, countless of example of him being out of his depth for the highest level of football yet he is somehow a good buy at almost 50m pounds?

He has been one of the worst transfers and up there with Maguire, Pogba, Lukaku, Di Maria.

 

[Lee565]

He needs to go along with mctominay so that we aren't complacent with them being one injury away from being starters again and stopping a youth player get game time, I would prefer mainoo or iqbal etc.. being given their minutes as at least they could become good players unlike fred and mctominay

 

[El-Manos]

He was shocking the other night but has had good performances too. We’ve had bigger flops at the club in recent years safe to say.

 

[jackal&hyde]

A key part to getting us 3ed and 2ed in an era dominated by endless oil money. Well done Fred I say.

 

[Olecurls99]

It shows how far we have fallen and how much standards have dropped and United fans have gotten used to such little quality, in which Fred at 47m is somehow being portrayed as a good buy.

An absolutely shit midfield player, with so little quality on the ball, countless of example of him being out of his depth for the highest level of football yet he is somehow a good buy at almost 50m pounds?

He has been one of the worst transfers and up there with Maguire, Pogba, Lukaku, Di Maria.

Let's not go overboard. He's not worth 47m but he's had some amazing games in a United shirt including this season. MOTM v Spurs. Surely that doesn't happen if you're "out of your depth".

 

[Bebestation]

Better than veron & anderson for me.

 

[Bebestation]

After all his cup performances, feel the super hate a bit unfair.

 

[gerdm07]

47 mill doesn't look that bad in this day and age.

Given inflation his cost today would be about 64 million.

I'll never understand our scouts with Fred. After I watched him play about 10 or so matches it was very evident his first touch was average at best. I don't think there exists a very good midfielder with an average first touch in the modern game.

BTW, Fred turns 30 next month. We can expect him to get less and less effective the next few years.

 

[Cantonagotmehere]

Fred is a fantastic squad player. Great attitude, hard worker and from time to time can show some real class. Just have to deal with some real stinkers here and there, but I'm glad he's with the club.

Ditto, mate. People always forget his good games after a bad one. Overall he has had a good season for United so far.