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"Fred will complement our other midfielders' qualities, which we need," said then Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, after splashing out big money on the Brazilian in 2018.

"His creative brain and passing vision will give us another dimension to our game. I am very happy he is joining our club and I believe our players know how important he can be in our team."

Fred had just become the Red Devils' third most expensive signing behind Romelu Lukaku and Paul Pogba, and put pen to paper on a five-year deal, with the transfer costing Manchester United £52million rising to £61m.

One season and one manager later and it's clear things just haven't worked out for Fred.

(Image: Getty Images)

For one reason or another the Brazilian has struggled to nail down a place in United's first team, and when he has been handed an opportunity to shine he hasn't taken it.

Since joining Manchester United Fred has made 25 appearances.

And in this time he has registered just the one assist, when he found Lukaku via the help of a deflection in United's last-gasp 3-2 win over Southampton in March last season.

Since then he has found a team-mate with just a single through ball, which came in United's 1-0 defeat by Barcelona in April.

In the match at Old Trafford Fred received the ball in the middle of the park and fired it forward into the path of Marcus Rashford.

The pass was over hit and Rashford was unable to latch onto it properly.

But it was registered as a successful pass as the United striker did touch the ball before it bounced off his foot and rolled through to Barca keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Since the Champions League quarter-final defeat Fred has played a total of five through balls.

The first of these came in a pre-season friendly against Kristiansund in July, which the Red Devils won 1-0 with a penalty in stoppage time.

Fred attempted to pick out Mason Greenwood with a pass, but the ball was played too close to a defender, who cleared his lines.

Fred's next attempt at a through ball came against Astana, with the Brazilian again trying to pick out Greenwood.

The midfielder was a little more unfortunate on this occasion though, as Greenwood was beaten for pace on the sprint to the ball.

A few days later in the 2-0 defeat by West Ham at London Stadium, Fred tried to find Jesse Lingard with a quick ball through the lines.

But Hammers centre-back Issa Diop was equal to the pass and made a crucial interception.

Fred's final two attempts at finding a team-mate both came in the 0-0 draw with AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League.

The first came on the 29 minute mark and saw an unchallenged Fred over hit a ball into the vicinity of Greenwood, only to see it go out of play for a goal kick.

The second came on 51 minutes as Fred attempted to pick out Daniel James, after the Welshman made a run forward, but again the ball was intercepted.

Fred came under much criticism following United's latest defeat by Newcastle.

Match of the Day pundit Martin Keown was particularly scathing, saying the midfielder's performances are starting to become a "joke".

"They're so inept in possession. Fred, it's almost becoming a joke when he gets the ball. I know it's good closing down but you've got to be able to control it and pass," said Keown.

"If that's the central midfield then there's not going to be anything created.

"They started playing balls long into [Marcus] Rashford and I feel sorry for him because he's surviving on scraps. But he should do better.

"Look at his body language… I think he's starting to despair with what's around him."

(Image: Getty Images)

Fred's confidence appears to be at an all-time low and it's unclear whether Solskjaer considers him to be a key part of his United squad.

Unless performances start to turn around rapidly then it seems very likely the club will look to move him on in January.