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The agent who brokered Fred's transfer from Shakhtar Donetsk to Manchester United in 2018 has opened up on how his move to Old Trafford came about and how Manchester City failed to secure his services.

Fred was brought to United by Jose Mourinho, arriving at the club for a fee of £50million, putting enormous pressure on his shoulders.

After a difficult start to his career with the Reds, the midfielder has turned things around under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, establishing himself as one of the first names on the team sheet this season.

Pep Guardiola and Manchester City were also admirers of Fred prior to his move to United and Fabio Mello - the man who orchestrated the deal - has revealed how the Blues failed to land his signature.

"The completion of the negotiation of Fred with Manchester United was the culmination of my trajectory, but to arrive at Manchester United I had the need to create a new strategy for the company and that was more or less in 2015/2016," he told UOL.

"I identified that I needed to create my direct connection with European clubs. At that time, either the market came after our athlete directly or an agent brought the proposal.

"What did I do? I invited some friends who played in major European clubs, who were references in certain countries, and showed them a partnership project.

"That’s when Fred’s project came. He was at a very high level at Shakhtar, called up for the Brazilian national team.

"There was a refusal to the Manchester City proposal in January 2018 because Shakhtar were in the Champions League quarter-finals.

"We held the deal, we lined up with Shakhtar and in the window, before the World Cup, we managed to close the deal with Manchester United, who at the time were led by Mourinho.

"The fact of closing a deal of this magnitude is very gratifying..."