Explained: What must happen before Mourinho brings £52m man into his Man Utd XI

Manchester United midfielder Fred must improve on the defensive side of his game if he is to start more matches, Jose Mourinho has suggested.

The Brazilian cost the Red Devils £52 million in the summer but has endured a frustrating start to his career in the Premier League and was not even part of the matchday squad for United’s most recent clash against Arsenal.

What’s going wrong for Fred at Manchester United? Five key things:

1. The former Shakhtar man started the season as one of Mourinho’s first-choice midfielders.
2. It was hoped Fred’s addition to the side would give Paul Pogba more freedom to express himself.
3. The former Shakhtar man has made just seven Premier League appearances, scoring one goal.
4. Jose Mourinho has now revealed that defensive concerns are behind Fred’s lack of playing time.
5. He has been an unused substitute in five of United’s last seven matches.

United have already conceded a huge 24 goals this season, managing just 25 themselves.

When pressed on Fred’s lack of opportunities, Mourinho told reporters that he feels he can only play the midfielder when there are other defensive players in the centre of the park.

“The day we are stronger defensively I think the horizons for Fred change,” the United boss claimed.

Mourinho was then asked about the progress Fred was making, to which he replied: “Step by step; you have also other players in other clubs that needed their time and you have some of them that played even less than what Fred is playing.”

It was only last month that Paulo Fonseca, Fred’s manager at previous club Shakhtar, backed the £50m man to have “a great future” at Manchester United.

“He’s a big talent and he’s still developing,” said Fonseca.

“I have no doubt he’ll have a great future at Manchester United. But, of course, he needs time. It’s totally different from what he was used to in Ukraine.

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Can Mourinho really afford to leave Fred out of the team?

Considering this is a United side that has struggled for goals all season, you have to question whether Mourinho’s management of Fred has been correct.

His defensive capabilities have been brought into question, but Fred proved himself as a quality box-to-box midfielder with Shakhtar and some of his performances in the early stages of the season for United were fairly encouraging.

It has to be said, though, that Fred looks unlikely to make himself a regular at United all the time Mourinho is in charge.

The United boss made clear that he felt his team needed defensive reinforcements last summer and, until he gets those, if he ever does, Fred is likely to be spending the majority of his time with the Red Devils on the bench or in the stands.

The post Jose Mourinho explains why £52m Fred has started just eight games for Man Utd appeared first on Squawka News.

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