The Red Devils midfielder is a big fan of his fellow Brazilian and expects interest to be stepped up ahead of another window
Manchester United midfielder Fred admits “a lot of clubs have their eye on” fellow Brazilian Raphinha, with the Red Devils among those said to be monitoring the progress of a tricky winger at Leeds.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could get another look at the talented 24-year-old on Sunday, with Marcelo Bielsa hoping to see a key part of his plans shake off a knock in time to figure against arch-rivals at Elland Road.
Fred is eager to see a compatriot miss out, due to the obvious threat that he poses to the Red Devils, but can appreciate why a man approaching the end of a productive debut campaign in England is attracting plenty of interest.
What has been said?
Fred has told United’s official website of a forward that current colleague Bruno Fernandes has always spoken highly of: “Bruno’s been talking about Raphinha ever since he arrived. They played together at Sporting.
“He’s a great player having an amazing season and a lot of clubs have their eye on him. I met him recently, great guy, excellent player but… I hope he won’t be lining up against us!
“I wish him a quick recovery and a lot of success in his career. He’s a stand-out star player for Leeds so, of course, it’s better for us if he’s not on the pitch.
“If he does play, we’ll look to mark him carefully and work on our game-plan as best as possible. We’ll try to nullify his threat to come out on top in this game.”
The bigger picture
Liverpool have also seen a move for Raphinha mooted, after seeing him record six goals and as many assists in the Premier League this season.
It is that end product that Solskjaer’s side are wary of as they prepare to rekindle a long-running rivalry with Roses foes.
Fred has billed a meeting between Uniteds from Manchester and Leeds as an “English football Clasico”, with fireworks expected in West Yorkshire.
“We’ll aim to do our best in the games… we always do that anyway, give our all with one game coming after another,” Fred added, as the Red Devils seek to preserve their unblemished away record.
“We’re on a great run of form away from home. We’ve been winning, it’s a great run, I hope we can keep up this winning run away from home until the end of the season.
“I also hope we can improve our home form, we’ve already improved a lot since the start of the season. I think we can continue on this run and finish the season really well.”
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