LONDON: Manchester United announced on Tuesday they have agreed a deal to sign Brazilian international midfielder Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk as Jose Mourinho seeks to topple reigning Premier League Champions Manchester City.
The 25-year-old will cost the English giants a reported fee of about £52 million ($69 million) and give Mourinho a powerful-looking midfield, with the Brazilian set to slot in alongside Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic.
A statement on the club’s website said: “Manchester United is delighted to announce it has reached agreement with Shakhtar Donetsk for the transfer of Frederico Rodrigues de Paula Santos (Fred).
“A further announcement will be made in due course.”
Manchester City were in pole position to sign him and Arab News understands they agreed terms with the player in January. But Shakhtar upped the price to €60 million ($70 million) once they knew Abu Dhabi-backed City were interested and they wanted to keep their midfield linchpin for the knockout phase of the Champions League.
United may have won the race for Fred but they finished second in the Premier League behind City, a whopping 19 points behind their fierce rivals. Beating City to the signature of Fred could prove to be a significant first step in bridging the gap.
Fred caught the eye in Shakhtar’s run to the last-16 of the Champions League, where the Ukrainians only lost out on away goals to Roma.
A stunning free-kick in the first leg of that tie was a glimpse of what Fred’s talented left foot can produce.
However, he is far more of a creator than goalscorer as his record of just 15 goals in five years at Shakhtar suggests.
United are in need of midfield reinforcements with Michael Carrick retiring and Marouane Fellaini out of contract.
Mourinho’s task will now be to harness Fred’s passing ability, while also finally getting the best out of Pogba in his third season since an £89 million move from Juventus.
Fred will hope to make the same impact on the Premier League as Brazilian international team-mates Willian and Fernandinho, who also arrived in England via spells with Shakhtar.
United fans are unlikely to get much of a glimpse of Fred at the World Cup in Russia, though, as he is yet to start an international under current coach Tite.
Handed his deubt by Dunga in 2014, Fred’s international career was disrupted after testing positive for the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide during the 2015 Copa America.
He was banned from international football for a year by South America’s governing body CONEMBOL, but only missed four months for Shakhtar as FIFA did not extend the ban to cover all confederations until February 2016.
Fred did not return to the national team until a 3-0 friendly win over Russia in March and Tite was keen for his transfer to be completed before the World Cup starts on June 14.
“Players are always thinking of their careers. What you say is please resolve it as soon as possible so we can get them focused back on the task in hand with the national team,” he said after Saturday’s 2-0 win over Croatia at Anfield.
“If I was a club manager, I would be looking to sign him.”
Manchester United agree deal to sign Brazil midfielder Fred
Manchester United agree deal to sign Brazil midfielder Fred
- United pay $69 million for Brazilian
- City almost signed Fred in January
Pakistan face arch-rivals India today in blockbuster T20 World Cup clash in Colombo
- Cricket contest takes place amid surging political tensions between India and Pakistan after their May 2025 clash
- Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav says team will decide whether or not to shake hands with Pakistani cricketers
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan take on defending champions and arch-rivals India today, Sunday, in Colombo in a highly anticipated T20 World Cup 2026 clash between the two sides.
The Group A fixture between the two sides will not just be important for the on-field cricket action but also because of the political tensions between the neighbors. India and Pakistan engaged in a brief military confrontation in May 2025 which came to a halt after Washington brokered a ceasefire.
However, political tensions spilled over onto the cricket field when Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav opted out of shaking hands with his Pakistani counterpart before the toss at their Asia Cup encounter last year in September. The Indian team refused to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts in all three matches of the tournament, triggering a strong protest from Pakistan.
Tensions surged again after Pakistan’s government announced earlier this month it would not allow its team to play against India in the World Cup in solidarity with Bangladesh. The South Asian country was replaced with Scotland after it refused to play its matches in India due to security reasons. Pakistan criticized the move and announced boycotting the Feb. 15 match against India. However, Islamabad later took back its decision to boycott the match after negotiations with the International Cricket Council.
“The game should be played in real spirit, the way it has been played since it started,” Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha said at the pre-match press conference on Saturday. “The rest is up to them (India), what they want to do.”
Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav did not commit whether his team will shake hands with Pakistan or not on Sunday.
“Why are you highlighting that?” Yadav asked reporters. “We are here to play cricket. We will play good cricket. We will take all those calls tomorrow. We will see tomorrow.”
Political and military tensions have meant the two teams have not played a bilateral series for years.
India has not traveled to Pakistan since 2008 and Pakistan visited India for the 50-over World Cup in 2023 but has since played ICC tournaments at neutral venues.
India has defeated Pakistan 12 times in the 16 T20 games they have played. They also have an impressive 6-1 record in the eight T20 World Cup matches since the first edition in 2007, with one being tied.
“We don’t have a good record against them in World Cups,” Agha admitted. “But whenever you come to play a new match, it’s a new day and you have to play good cricket to win.
“You can’t change history. You can learn from it. We learned from it and we’ll try to do a good performance tomorrow and win the match.”
Both sides have won their two fixtures so far, with India beating the USA and Namibia while Pakistan have defeated the Netherlands and the USA as well.
The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super Eight stage of the World Cup.
The match is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. Pakistan Standard Time.
