Fred has rubbished speculation that he could be on his way out of Manchester United after Donny van de Beek joined from Ajax and insists greater competition in midfield is ‘good for everyone’ at the club.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has an embarrassment of riches in the middle of the park, with Paul Pogba, Bruno Fernandes, Nemanja Matic, Scott McTominay and Fred already battling it out for game-time before Van de Beek’s £40 million arrival.
Jesse Lingard and Andreas Pereira are ‘likely’ to leave Old Trafford before next month’s transfer deadline and Brazil midfielder Fred has been heavily linked with a move to Galatasaray.
Earlier this month, Fred fuelled these rumours by ‘liking’ a post on Instagram talking up a possible switch to Turkey but it’s clear the 27-year-old is ready to fight for his place with the Red Devils.
‘I want to stay here – that’s my desire,’ he told FourFourTwo.
‘I don’t want to leave. As I’ve always said, I want to be an important player and win trophies for this club.
‘[Van de Beek’s arrival] means we’re getting stronger and that’s good for everyone at United.
‘We need more players for this season because it will be even more demanding: the calendar is crammed and we need a strong squad to compete for every title.
‘When you play at a big club, there will always be competition – I’m used to it.
‘It’s been like that from day one at United.’
Fred is confident United will end their wait for major silverware ‘soon’ based on the improvements they made towards the end of last season.
‘We can’t say it was a good season, because we didn’t win a trophy,’ he added.
‘For a club like Manchester United, it’s not a good season without a title.
‘We managed to reach three semi-finals but lost them all. We were close to our goals, but they just didn’t come our way – I was really confident that we would win something, but it didn’t happen.
It was crucial to get our place back, but that alone isn’t enough: we want to fight for that title, too.
‘The good thing is that we’re improving as a team and I think we’re heading in the right direction. Trophies will come our way soon.’
