Man Utd plan to sell Fred and sign €40m replacement who is WORSE

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 5 Jul 2023 09:55 BST
• 4 min read

Manchester United’s summer transfer window is set to finally get underway with the signing of Mason Mount from Chelsea, but manager Erik ten Hag continues to be frustrated in his efforts to sign key targets.

The Dutchman has been forced to reassess his plans with the stalling takeover of the club, which has left him without significant funds to draw upon as the uncertainty over ownership continues to linger – despite previous assurances by the Glazers that a deal would be done in the spring.

In order to make signings, Ten Hag will be forced to first make sales.

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One of the players who is set to be cut from the Man Utd squad is Brazil international midfielder Fred, with interest coming from Fulham as well as the Saudi Pro League, where several top European-based players have already moved this summer.

Signed from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2018 for €59m, Fred has failed to live up to his transfer fee and is now given an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of just €19m with a year left to run on his contract.

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United are hoping to attract bids of around €23m (£20 million) for the 30-year-old.

According to the Daily Mail, Man Utd are hoping to sign Fiorentina midfielder Sofyan Amrabat to take his place in the midfield roster.

Fred a stronger player than Amrabat

Although the Morocco midfielder won acclaim for the manner in which he performed at the 2022 World Cup as his side made history by becoming the first Africans to reach the semi-final of the competition, he would mark a downgrade on Fred, according to SciSports.

The data analytics experts give thousands of players a SciSkill value based on hundreds of in-game data points. These show that Amrabat has a “clearly lower” score than Fred, although his score at a similar age is virtually identical.

Nevertheless, based off this data, it is unclear how Amrabat, who has also been linked with Liverpool, would provide a solution to any of Man Utd’s immediate problems.

With an asking price in the region of €40m, he would represent a net expenditure of at least €15m - money that Ten Hag can ill afford to squander in the current situation.

Meanwhile, Amrabat does not offer the prospect of making a huge jump in his quality to become a dramatically better player than Fred. This is a puzzling transfer.