Erik ten Hag decided that time was up for a few Manchester United players in the summer.
The likes of Eric Bailly, Zidane Iqbal, David de Gea, Phil Jones, Alex Telles and so many more were all deemed unfit to wear the red shirt at Old Trafford for the 23/24 season.
So far, a few of the decisions have been scrutinized. Bringing in Andre Onana for club legend De Gea will always be a dubious topic.
But one player that is now absolutely thriving away from Manchester United is Fred. We should have never sold the Brazilian.
Fred still has 100% record away from Manchester United
Manchester United parted ways with the Brazilian for just £12.9m this summer, with Fenerbache being the one to bite the bullet on the 30-year-old.
He has been nothing short of immense for the Super Lig side. Fenerbache sit top of the league, which is very much down to Fred’s contributions.
Until he got injured, they hadn’t lost a game. In his absence their winning streak came to an end – but he has returned and more or less kicked up where he left off.
His return saw them win midweek and he put in another stellar performance as they beat tough opposition in Besiktas away from home 3-1.
Stating that Fred is an ‘incredible’ player who makes a difference, Fenerbache boss İsmail Kartal said, “We cannot attribute it only to Fred.
“Of course, Fred has a contribution to us. Fred is a player who travels a lot in the game and makes the connection in transitions. For this, Fred is a player who makes a lot of difference for us.”
Manchester United ditched Fred for mediocre Sofyan Amrabat
The sad thing is, we didn’t even upgrade. Sofyan Amrabat was Erik ten Hag‘s choice of ‘transitional midfielder’ to bring to Old Trafford in the summer. He’s been nothing special.
Apart from a solid performance against Chelsea in midweek, Amrabat just simply looks like a bang-average player.
He offers little going forward regarding creativity and does, well, a mediocre job in his defensive abilities.
Fred, although often erratic, as his new manager said is great in ‘transitional’ phases – which has been obsolete this season for United.
The be-all and end-all, we replaced a man who is now thriving undefeated for sheer mediocrity. It sums up Manchester United’s transfer business over the last few seasons up poetically.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/FObDuYK