Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho said that he is happy with the way that Andreas Pereira and Fred have integrated into the first-team. He made the comments while speaking ahead of his club’s 3-2 loss against Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday.
Fred arrived at Old Trafford during the summer in a £52 million deal from Shakhtar Donetsk, and out of the three signings that United made during the summer transfer season, he is the only one who is expected to play a prominent role in the first-team right away. The young Diego Dalot could play a bit-part role, as he is very inexperienced, while veteran goalkeeper Lee Grant was brought in to occupy the third-choice keeping position and is only likely to play in an emergency situation.
Pereira was rewarded with a role in Mourinho’s first-team plans for this season after churning out impressive performances during the pre-season. The 22-year-old has previously had loan spells with the likes of Valencia and Granada.
Manchester United, meanwhile, face an uncertain season ahead. Pre-season expectations for the club are not high, as they did not make a large number of notable signings and it is widely believed that the Red Devils lack strength in depth to challenge for major trophies this season. They began the season with an impressive 2-1 win over Leicester City, but followed that up with a humiliating 3-2 defeat against Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday.
While speaking about the Brazilian duo, Mourinho told MUTV: “I think Fred, already with only 70/75 minutes at Old Trafford, I think people already like him,”
“When we brought him here, we knew he could influence the dynamic because he could attract other people to follow him in the way he thinks football and the way he likes to play football. So we are really happy. And a part of that is his character, he’s a good guy to have around, a funny guy and a guy who always has a smile on his face.
“He doesn’t speak good English but he speaks with everyone and understands everyone and they understand him. He’s a really, really good guy and he brought new music to the place because we were a bit tired of [David] De Gea and Ashley Young’s music all the time!”
