Having won the domestic double with Shakhtar this season, Fred is on the lookout for a new adventure next season, and England appears to be his most likely destination.
The past few months have seen a number of rumours and stories emerge regarding the Brazilian’s future, claiming that both Manchester United and Manchester City are after his services; a claim half-confirmed by Darijo Srna on Instagram shouting that the midfielder would be ‘going to Manchester’.
Keeping some mystery by following that up with ‘he doesn’t know if it’s City or United’, the Croatian defender still managed to get everyone talking.
Over in Spain, it appears the general consensus is that Pep Guardiola holds the advantage over José Mourinho, even though Barcelona have been snooping around recently.
Mundo Deportivo on Tuesday explain the La Liga champions haven’t ‘lost sight’ of the 25-year-old, primarily because he fits the profile they’re looking for this summer perfectly.
However, the Catalan outlet believe Manchester City are a problem for Barcelona after ‘Txiki Begiristain contacted Shakhtar after Fred’s exhibition against the Cityzens in the Champions League’.
Having already signed Fernandinho from the Ukrainian side in the past, the director of football knows the ‘mechanisms’ of negotiations with Rinat Akhmetov, the Ukrainian club’s owner.
A reported €50.2m bid has already been placed by Manchester City, ‘although the contract has not yet been signed’.
Despite this, Mundo Deportivo believe Fred’s valuation stands somewhere between €30-32m, ‘although he could go for less’, but if a big Premier League club or Barcelona come knocking, ‘the economic demand would multiply’.
The report is a bit all over the place, but the underlying message is clear: Txiki Begiristain seemingly has everything already sorted out and all that’s lacking is Fred signing the contract.
