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What’s the rumour?
Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder, Fred is set to have a medical at Manchester United today according to Sky Sources. The Red Devils are paying £52 million to sign the Brazilian as per reports in BBC.
Fred, however, refused to confirm the move for now. Speaking to the media after Brazil's 2-0 win vs Croatia, he said, “I’m going to talk to the people, meet my friends. I still do not know where I’m going. I’ll still talk to my agents to find out the reality of it.”
The midfielder will be the first signing of the summer for Manchester United. The BBC report also claims that the Premier League runners-up are close to signing Diogo Dalot from FC Porto.
In case you didn’t know...
Fred was close to joining Manchester City in January. However, Shakhtar Donetsk refused to sell him as they were still in the Champions League at that time.
Shakhtar CEO confirmed earlier this year that the midfielder will join one of the two Manchester clubs in the summer. “Fred will leave in July. If he does not go to Manchester City, he will go to Manchester United,” he said.
The heart of the matter
Brazil coal, Tite said he was happy that this transfer is getting sorted before the World Cup. "When this happens, and it is inevitable, they are going to come to us and our advice to them is resolve this as soon as you can so your head is back with us and focusing on the national team," he said after Sunday's friendly.
Tite went on to praise his talent and confirmed that he too would have signed the midfielder if he was a manager at a club.
Rumour probability: 9/10
With every media house reporting it, it looks like a done deal. Unless Manchester City make a late move, this should go through.
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What’s next?
Fred is in England and is expected to complete his medical today. He will then head to Russia with Brazil and then move to Manchester after the tournament is over.
He is expected to miss the first two weeks on pre-season but will be at the club in time for the Premier League season kickoff.
