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Football

15th Aug 2018

Ex-Arsenal midfielder convinced Fred to pick Manchester United over Manchester City

"I'm sure that I made the right choice."

Darragh Murphy

You can take it as read that Manchester City are going to be in the market for all of the best available players moving forward.

City were reportedly raging after Jorginho made his move to Chelsea in the summer and they also missed out on another top target when Fred chose to join arch-rivals Manchester United instead.

Fred moved to the Red Devils for a fee believed to be in the region of £52 million in June and ended up being Jose Mourinho’s only big-money signing of the summer.

While Mourinho has since complained about his side’s lack of summer spending after United failed to bring in a new centre-half, perhaps United can consider themselves lucky to have agreed a deal with Fred.

The Brazilian midfielder ended up being a target for several clubs in Europe and could well have found himself plying his trade for City boss, Pep Guardiola, if not for the intervention of former Arsenal midfielder Gilberto Silva.

“There were options in England and in Europe,” Fred told ESPN.

“Manchester City, PSG, but I chose United. I spoke to my agent Gilberto Silva, who played for Arsenal. He told me that United was a huge club. I spoke to my family and friends.

“When I said United, I saw their faces. I’m sure that I made the right choice. I want to play in and win the Premier League, the best league in the world. I had a proposal from China too, but I didn’t want to go there because I wanted to join United.”

Fred made his Premier League debut in United’s 2-1 victory over Leicester on Friday night and impressed alongside Paul Pogba and Andreas Pereira.