Man Utd shoots more of Fred the Red's mascot than fighting for £ 52 million – David McDonnell

He is the fourth most expensive rookie in the illustrious history of Manchester United, but struggled to be part of the team in his first season.

Fred was expecting United to pay £ 52m to Shakhtar Donetsk for the Brazilian midfielder this summer, putting him ahead of local rivals Manchester City.

As United's flagship rookie for the summer and highly regarded by City boss Pep Guardiola, Fred had an immediate impact on Old Trafford. But he struggled to maintain a regular place under José Mourinho.

Everything indicates how low Fred is at the fact that Marouane Fellaini, a semi-form, started in front of him in the 3-1 defeat of United against City at the start of the month.

Dynamic box-to-box midfielder, just as adept in defense as in attack, Fred has been hailed as the man capable of bringing out the best of Paul Pogba.

But it did not work that way, Fred struggling to adapt to the pace and look of the English game.

While the 25-year-old is limited to just eight out of United's 19 games in all competitions this season, United's official mascot Fred the Red has made more appearances at Old Trafford this season than his namesake in difficulty.

Tuesday night's reminder allowed Fred to prove his value, while Mourinho became ruthless with his well-known stars, including Pogba, who fell on the bench after another ineffective match in the Crystal Palace 0-0 draw. Saturday.

But there was little, certainly in his performance in the first half, to suggest that Fred was about to embark on a regular race on the United States side and make himself unstoppable for Mourinho.

Too often, he threatened his teammates with under-touched passes. Although he came closer with a long-term effort in the first half that flew very little, there was no real threat to the goal either.

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Fred's death was catastrophic and it was not surprising that Pogba was replacing him.

Fred's relatives say that he is determined to succeed at United and has promised to prove that it was not another expensive flop of United's transfer market, like Angel Di Maria and Juan Veron .

Unless there is a dramatic reversal of his form, Fred seems to have the honorable honor of joining them.