Manchester United midfielder Fred has had a tough time since joining United for a huge £52m fee last summer from Shakhtar Donetsk.

The Brazilian  has struggled to establish himself in the first team, spending large parts of the season stuck on the bench.

He’s started just two games since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over from Jose Mourinho in December, but their injury crisis saw him thrown in for the biggest game of his United career so far against Paris Saint-Germain.

The 25-year-old started in place of the suspended Paul Pogba in midfield as the Red Devils pulled off a remarkable comeback in dramatic circumstances at the Parc Des Princes.

And United fans were generally impressed with the character shown by Fred to demonstrate his ability with a battling display in their three-man midfield.

Until his start at Crystal Palace last Wednesday, Fred had not played in 53 days. He was bereft in the first-half at Selhurst Park and back on the bench against Southampton.

Fred emerged and had a game-changing impact with the assist, albeit via a decisive deviation off Pierre-Emile Højbjerg. United needed a forward-thinking midfielder to offset Pogba’s absence and a passable performance was the least they could expect from a £52 million asset.

They got it. “That was probably Fred’s breakthrough for us,”  Solskjaer stressed at his post-match briefing.

“You can see why we signed him. He’s got the mentality of a Brazilian international, he is a Brazilian international, he gets on the ball, no fear, no doubt whatsoever. And we played a system today he used to play at Shakhtar and that’s why we signed him.”

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