Paul Merson has slaughtered Manchester United summer signing Fred and claimed no-one knows what he does.
The Premier League giants paid £47million, according to BBC Sport, to bring the Brazil international to Old Trafford from Shakhtar Donetsk in a deal announced in June.
Arsenal legend and Sky Sports pundit Merson believes the 25-year-old is symptomatic of the appalling recruitment at United and insists that questions need to be asked of Jose Mourinho and the club’s board.
“Look at the money United have wasted,” Merson told the Daily Star. “Alexis Sanchez has been terrible. Paul Pogba is a World Cup winner but how many games does he dictate? He’s not disciplined enough and just plays his own game.Romelu Lukaku I think has done alright.
“But look at the others? Who’s been a success? Victor Lindelof? No. Eric Bailly? No. Fred? We’ve barely even seen him. What does he do? No-one knows? I don’t know who’s buying all these players, whether it’s Mourinho or Ed Woodward who is most to blame.”
OPINION
When United made Fred one of their most expensive-ever signings in the summer, there was an expectation the midfielder would have a major role to play this season. Mourinho hailed his “creative brain and passing vision” and insisted that the Brazilian would add a new dimension to the United team. So far, that has not proved to be the case. The big-money signing has been in and out of the team and seemingly failed to convince the manager that he is deserving of regular game time. There have been signs the nine-times Brazil international has genuine quality, but these have only been sporadic flashes rather than anything especially meaningful. Some United fans regularly call for Fred to be used more often, claiming he offers the dynamism sorely lacking from the likes of Nemanja Matic, Ander Herrera, Marouane Fellaini and, it has to be said, the desperately disappointing Pogba. Merson’s verdict on the £47million man is brutal but not completely wide of the mark.