Manchester United have reached an agreement to sign Brazil midfielder Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk for a reported £47m.
The 25-year-old, who has been selected for this summer’s World Cup, is set to become Old Trafford boss Jose Mourinho’s first signing of the summer.
United are also closing in on Porto’s 19-year-old defender Diogo Dalot and should complete the deal this week.
Dalot has a £17.4m release clause and is understood to have had his medical.
The transfer should hasten the exits of Italian full-back Matteo Darmian, who has been strongly linked with Juventus, and Netherlands defender Daley Blind, neither of whom has a long-term future under Mourinho.
Who is Fred?
Fred is in Brazil’s World Cup squad and appeared as an 82nd-minute substitute for his country as they beat Croatia 2-0 in a friendly at Anfield on Sunday.
Brazil coach Tite had said he wanted his players’ domestic futures sorted before the tournament in Russia, which starts on 14 June.
Born in Belo Horizonte, Fred moved to Europe in 2013 from Brazilian club Internacional and enjoyed success during five years in Ukraine.
He helped Shakhtar to win three league titles, three Ukrainian Cups and four Ukrainian Super Cups.
Fred also helped Shakhtar reach the Champions League knockout stages in 2017-18. He played in wins over Manchester City and Napoli, scoring in a 2-1 win over Roma in the last 16.
Chelsea winger Willian, who played for Shakhtar between 2007 and 2013, believes Fred will he a success in England.
“He has a lot of quality, he can improve a lot,” he said. “He goes to one of the best teams in the world and I’m happy for him. I hope he does well at Manchester United.
“He is very happy to come to the Premier League to play, we talked a little bit about that.
“He is excited to start but now it is time to think about the World Cup and think about the national team.”
However, Fred’s career has not been without controversy.
In December 2015, he was given a one-year ban after testing positive for a banned diuretic, which was backdated to June that year when the test was carried out.
The suspension only applied to games sanctioned by South American football federation Conmebol.
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Source: BBC
