Fred, a 25-year-old Brazilian international, has been plying his trade in the Ukraine since 2013, when he joined Shakhtar from Internacional.
And the technically-gifted South American, who can play either in an orthodox central midfield role or an attacking midfield role, has since gone on to develop into one of the most in-demand stars in Europe, with his performances during Shakhtar’s run to the Champions League’s last-16 this past season having seen some of the giants of the Premier League add their names to Fred’s list of admirers.
Manchester United and Manchester City have been the two sides most heavily touted as a potential destination for the Selecao star, with reports in England since the turn of the year having suggested that the fierce rivals were set to enter into another bidding war, following the January saga surrounding Alexis Sanchez.
But, as per a number of reports this afternoon, one of which crucially comes from the ever-reliable Gianluca Di Marzio, Manchester United have in fact already agreed a deal with Shakhtar for Fred, with the Red Devils set to splash out 50 million Euro on the midfielder’s signature.
Di Marzio goes on to claim that Jose Mourinho’s plans for his side’s engine room next season will be to utilise the trio of Nemanja Matic, Paul Pogba and Fred, before adding that though a move for in-demand Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic would be ‘exciting’, the arrival of Fred will essentially rule out the possibility of Savic making the move to Old Trafford this summer.