Why Fred Did Not Sign For Manchester City
REUTERS/Andreas Gebert
Gilberto Silva orchestrated one of the biggest transfers in the Premier League this summer. The former Brazilian midfielder, who made 170 appearances for Arsenal, helped Manchester United secure a €55 million move for Fred.
Manchester City were said to be interested in signing the player in January,and submitted a mega offer for him, but Shakhtar did not wish to see their best player leave in middle of the season.
In the following summer, Jose Mourinho identified Fred as a replacement for the retiring Michael Carrick, and Manchester United managed to seal the deal with the Ukrainian side quickly.
Gilberto Silva, who is one of the owners of Partner Sports, a Brazil-based football agency, recently Silva invited journalists to talk to about his new venture. In the interview, he revealed a couple of details about Fred, his first big client.
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“About Manchester City, he had the chance to leave in January,” Silva revealed (via UOL). “But Shakhtar vetoed, there was no conversation. A good offer arrived, even bigger than the one from now. But Shakhtar understood that he was the most important player of the club.
“They didn’t want to negotiate, vetoed the exit. We did the planning which was to leave in the summer and he bought the idea. Everything we talked about, he understood the process, bought the idea.
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“It was cool, because the conduct before Shakhtar within the negotiation was very correct. Professional conduct on our part and the part of him also, for not having lost his performance [after the failed move to Man City].”
Fred has had a mixed start to life in the Premier League. While he has been impressive, he has also attracted criticism for lunging into unnecessary tackles.
On the whole, Manchester United are having a terrible time this season. The Red Devils had a good start when they managed to brush past Leicester City, but have only suffered defeats to Brighton and Tottenham since.