Manchester United face Fenerbahçe on Thursday evening in the UEFA Europa League. There’s a lot of stories coming off as tangents to the match, not least Erik ten Hag’s future being under further question should the Red Devils lose in Turkey.
Fittingly, he’s coming up against Jose Mourinho, another manager who will feel he somewhat went through the mill at Manchester United. Ten Hag has already spoken about his admiration for the Portuguese coach, and the managerial match-up is certainly going to be a big talking point in the coming days.
That isn’t when the connections end.
Altay Bayındır had four years with Fenerbahçe before moving to Manchester United in the summer 2023 window.
Sofyan Amrabat, who was on loan from Fiorentina to the Red Devils last season, is now at Fener. As is Fred.
The Brazilian midfielder was at Manchester United from 2018 to 2023, and likely underrated for at least a chunk of his time there. He moved to Istanbul for around €10m and became one of the club’s most important players.
Ahead of the match against his former side, Fred has spoken to the media about his current manager helping him make the move to Old Trafford.
Turkey’s Sport Digitale quote him as saying: “There is no need to talk about Jose Mourinho’s quality, everyone knows what he has achieved. He is a great manager and I am grateful to him. Mourinho was one of the names that transferred me to Manchester United.
“When I was playing for Shakhtar Donetsk, he called me and said he wanted me to transfer to Manchester United. After the call from Mourinho, I couldn’t say no. Now I am at Fenerbahçe and he is here, so we are together again.”
