Arsenal and Manchester United are locked in a battle to secure the £30m signature of Brazil star Fred as Shakhtar Donetsk get ready to cash-in on the midfielder, according to the Daily Star.
Fred has proven to be a superb signing for Shakhtar since joining the club from International in 2013 while the midfielder has also broken in to the Brazilian national team with 6 caps to his name so far.
The 24-year-old has been virtually ever-present for the Ukrainian giants this season having featured 24 times across all competitions and he’s chipped in with 2 goals and 4 assists so far.
His impressive form has attracted interest from all over Europe with the likes of Manchester City, Napoli, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid and Valencia all understood to be keeping an eye on his progress.
However, the Daily Star claim the most serious interest is coming from Arsenal and Manchester United with the duo reportedly battling it out over Fred’s signature this winter.
The newspaper says Shakhtar are reluctantly ready to cash-in but with the attacking midfielder under contract until 2021 they will demand a fee in the region of £30m.
Arsene Wenger needs to further strengthen his squad with Mesut Ozil and Jack Wilshere out-of-contract in June while Santi Cazorla’s career is in doubt due to a serious Achilles problem and it looks like Fred is on the Arsenal bosses radar.
However, United will provide stiff competition for the South American’s signature as Jose Mourinho knows he needs to enhance his squad if he’s to catch Man City and Fred could be viewed as a potential replacement for Henrikh Mkhitaryan – who’s fallen out-of-favour.
