Tuesday saw Manchester United announce their first transfer addition of the summer, Brazilian midfielder Fred. He arrives from Shakhtar Donetsk for a transfer fee that’s being reported by various outlets as being in the neighborhood of €55 million ($69.3 million), with the possibility of rising to €60m with add-ons.
The United statement was incredibly terse, saying only that the club is “delighted to announce it has reached agreement with Shakhtar Donetsk for the transfer of Frederico Rodrigues de Paula Santos. A further announcement will be made in due course.”
#MUFC is delighted to announce it has reached an agreement with Shakhtar Donetsk for the transfer of Fred.
More details: https://t.co/uQM1R6bmgH pic.twitter.com/52Kg4k2jT8
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) June 5, 2018
In other words, the industry standard photos of an arriving player holding his new shirt and signing his contract will be coming soon, just not today.
It’s been reported that 25-year-old underwent a medical at United’s Carrington training ground over the past few days, as Brazil was in the region to take on Croatia in a World Cup exhibition warm up at Anfield.
Fred had previously been targeted by Manchester City, so this is no doubt a victory for United on multiple levels.
Fred leaves Shakhtar to continue his career at @ManUtd.https://t.co/frxwZEIjPv pic.twitter.com/HgqVd2pDpx
— FC SHAKHTAR ENGLISH (@FCShakhtar_eng) June 5, 2018
With Fred in the fold, United still may add another midfielder, with Paris Saint-Germain’s Marco Verratti rumored to be at the top of the list.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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