Brazilian outlet UOL brings a very interesting story with agent Fabio Mello, who handled Fred’s transfer to Manchester United in 2018.
In a long interview, they recall the time when Mello was a player, having featured for the likes of São Paulo, Atlético Mineiro, Athletico and Fluminense. But after retiring at the age of 30, he chose to become a representative.
Fred’s €59m move to the Red Devils is the biggest transfer handled by Fabio Mello so far, and the agent said there was a long road before completing such a huge signing, and detailed Manchester City’s failure to get the midfielder.
“The completion of the negotiation of Fred with Manchester United was the culmination of my trajectory, but to arrive at Manchester United I had the need to create a new strategy for the company and that was more or less in 2015/2016,” Fabio Mello told UOL.
“I identified that I needed to create my direct connection with European clubs. At that time, either the market came after our athlete directly or an agent brought the proposal.
“What did I do? I invited some friends who played in major European clubs, who were references in certain countries, and showed them a partnership project. Gilberto Silva had played with me at Atlético. Actually I played with him, right? And I invited him to work with our athletes in clubs in England and Greece and, as a result of this project, in one of our first trips, Gilberto ended up being invited to be executive director of Panathinaikos. With that we were forced to put a hold on the partnership. He returned after a year and we reactivated.”
“That’s when Fred’s project came. He was at a very high level at Shakhtar, called up for the Brazilian national team. There was a refusal to the Manchester City proposal in January 2018 because Shakhtar were in the Champions League quarter-finals. we held the deal, we lined up with Shakhtar and in the window, before the World Cup, we managed to close the deal with Manchester United, who at the time were led by Mourinho. The fact of closing a deal of this magnitude is very gratifying, but the vision to identify and invite Gilberto Silva to start our entry into the European market was crucial. He’s an incredible guy [Gilberto], an idol in England and a reference for Brazilians who play in the Premier League. It was a special moment.”
Fred has 64 appearances for the Red Devils so far. Despite struggling for the club in his first season, the midfielder had been doing great in 2019/20, with fans creating a big expectation around how a midfield with him, Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba could look.
The Brazilian’s contract with Manchester United runs until 2023, with an option for a further year.
