Manchester United appear to be ramping up their efforts in the transfer window as Erik ten Hag aims to bolster his squad.
Mason Mount and Andre Onana have already arrived, and they remain confident in signing Rasmus Hojlund.
The Old Trafford outfit could also be set to move a few players on this summer in order to raise some funds for future arrivals, with Fred attracting interest.
Could Fred leave Manchester United?
According to Turkish outlet NTV Spor, Galatasaray have ‘intensified talks’ with the Red Devils regarding a move for Fred this summer.
As per the report, United have set an asking price of €15m (£12m) for the Brazilian, although the Turkish champions are looking to reduce that as much as possible while including bonuses as part of the deal.
The 30-year-old has just one year left on his current £120k-per-week contract, meaning Ten Hag will need to move him on during the current transfer window if he hopes to bring in a respectable fee for the midfielder.
Who could replace Fred?
Whatever happens, United are set to make a massive loss on the former Shakhtar Donetsk starlet, who cost a whopping £47m back in the summer of 2018 and during his five seasons in Manchester, has failed to live up to this price tag.
Across 213 matches, Fred has registered just 33 goal contributions and was even dubbed “consistently woeful” by writer Si Lloyd back in 2019.
He did enjoy his most productive seasons in terms of goals and assists last term, registering six of each, but he started just 23 of the 56 games he played, which suggests that Ten Hag doesn’t fully trust him in the starting XI.
The Old Trafford outfit have ‘presented’ an offer for Sofyan Amrabat, according to Sportitalia, ahead of a potential move this summer and the Moroccan international could be a major upgrade on Fred.
Although the Brazilian registered more league goals compared to Amrabat (two to zero), the Fiorentina midfielder registered a higher pass completion rate (88.8% to 79.1%), made more progressive passes (176 to 76) and succeeded with a higher percentage of take ons (70.6% to 37.5%), suggesting he could certainly be a better fit for Ten Hag’s tactical system than Fred due to his wonderful passing ability.
Indeed, the 26-year-old powerhouse ranks highly compared to positional peers across Europe’s big five leagues for a variety of passing metrics, including ranking in the top 5% for passes completed (88.8%) and top 8% for progressive passes per (7.93) per 90, indicating that not only is he comfortable at circulating the ball, but he makes forward passes on a regular basis.
A move for the player who shone on the World stage for Morocco during the 2022 World Cup as he helped them reach the semifinals would make perfect sense.
Not only is he four years younger than the Brazilian, but his impressive passing attributes would fit in well under the Dutchman, who he played for during his time at Utrecht between 2015 and 2017.
If Ten Hag is serious about challenging for domestic and European honours, then improving his squad this summer is a must, so ditching Fred for Amrabat could be a very shrewd move indeed.