Jose Mourinho told a Brazilian media outlet in April that his team needs a Brazil international on it, and that came to fruition yesterday when Manchester United officially confirmed that a deal had been reached for Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Fred.
According to reports, the amount paid for Fred will make him the second most expensive midfielder in club history, behind only Paul Pogba, so expectations will be extremely high for him. Willian has no doubt at all that Fred can live up to those lofty expectations.
“Of course, no doubt, no doubt about that,” Willian said. “He has a lot of quality, he can improve a lot. He goes to one of the best teams in the world and I’m happy for him.
“I hope he does well at Manchester United. He’s very happy to come to the Premier League to play, we talked a little bit about that. He’s excited to start but now it’s time to think about the World Cup and think about the national team.”
Willian himself has been linked with a move to United, and Mourinho has often expressed his admiration for his former player in public. Thus when Mourinho made the comments saying every team needs a Brazilian, many speculated that Old Trafford would make a move for him.
This narrative, coupled with Willian’s very bizarre behavior after the season ended with Chelsea beating United 1-0 in the FA Cup final, has prompted a lot of uncertainty about the winger’s future at Stamford Bridge. Willian didn’t exactly give away the store when asked to comment on his plans for the future.
“I was happy with my performance during the season, I played very well, I always try to do my best, always try to work hard and sometimes to stay on the bench is difficult but I respect the decision of the manager, always,” he said.
“I don’t have any more to say about my club because now I want to have focus here with the national team on the World Cup.”
Well, the summer transfer window just opened, and there plenty of column inches to fill out there, so watch this space.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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