Should Fred be offered a new contract?

I don’t think so. There’s a whole host of middling midfielders in the PL that could do a better, more consistent job than he does for a small fee, but I’d much prefer a significant upgrade.

I haven’t been his biggest critic, because I can appreciate his work ethic and he has had some really good games for us, but he’s shown time and again that he needs a prolonged run in the team to get into form and we can’t be offering him that now. He’s not a good option off the bench most of the time.
 

Why would you just release him though? There are surely clubs out there who'd still pay something like 5-10mil for him if you took up the 1 year contract extension.
 
I believe next season ETH will get another CM, thus would make Fred the 3rd option in CM (new guy, Eriksen) , and 3rd option in AMC (Bruno/Eriksen). Ideally, that 3rd place should be reserved to young player. We have a few youngsters that are knocking on the door by showing good performance already.
 
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footballbite said:
Why would you just release him though? There are surely clubs out there who'd still pay something like 5-10mil for him if you took up the 1 year contract extension.
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It's also up to the player. He might do a Lingard and sit out his contract for year so he can get his choice if clubs.
 
footballbite said:
Why would you just release him though? There are surely clubs out there who'd still pay something like 5-10mil for him if you took up the 1 year contract extension.
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Just like we did with Matic, Jones, Mata, Bailly, Romero, Pogba... Oh, wait.
 
He's rubbish, let him go. No point of having him and Mctominay in the squad.
 
Adnan said:
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Excellent.

Tbf at the end of last season I would have said that Fred is the only real CM we have. However with Casemeiro and Eriksen joining and us still needing more quality in midfield this season has become a show down between which of our ex starters get to stay a squad player and it seems Mctominay has won that battle as Fred has had an atrocious season and deserves to go.
 
footballbite said:
Why would you just release him though? There are surely clubs out there who'd still pay something like 5-10mil for him if you took up the 1 year contract extension.
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We can't keep stockpiling unwanted players. The very real risk of handing our contract extensions is that you are unable to sell and end up accumulating cost with no benefit. We need to get rid of players we don't need so that we are able to replace them
 
I say we continue offloading inconsistent senior players and start integrating academy products (who are understandably inconsistent too). We’re in transition and we can’t expect too much too soon.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
Excellent.

Tbf at the end of last season I would have said that Fred is the only real CM we have. However with Casemeiro and Eriksen joining and us still needing more quality in midfield this season has become a show down between which of our ex starters get to stay a squad player and it seems Mctominay has won that battle as Fred has had an atrocious season and deserves to go.
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Bit harsh imo. He doesn't have an obvious place in the team so dont disagree. Ultra defensive replacement for Bruno who provides a similar level of energy in that position? Its probably a more natural role for him than replacing Eriksen or Casemiro. McTominay has been playing well this season but if his contract was up in the summer i wouldn't be shouting sign him up immediately either. He has a few advantages over Fred in that regard though
 
No. Replace with an upgrade. Scott already fills the quota for half decent squad player in midfield. No need for two when we lack any quality depth.
 
This would be the first real sign that we are really starting to turn the screw on this squad and moving in a clear direction.

I like Fred. Despite his limitations, he has always brought an intensity and work ethic in the last few years and for the last decade or so that would be more than enough to earn him a new four year deal with a pay increase.

But the reality is we need to make smart football decisions rather than just accepting the status quo. Being a good pro should not guarantee a stay at Manchester United the way it has for the likes of Mata, Young and De Gea to name just a few in the last decade.

Fred is a good player but I always felt he could be a casualty of Ten Hag’s United. The early links with De Jong and how we are now deploying Eriksen has shown what Ten Hag wants in that position. He wants a conductor rather than a battler. Fred doesn’t fit in anywhere else in the team: he lacks the discipline and ball progression to play in Casemiro’s role, McTominay is ahead of him in that sense. And he will never have the technical attacking qualities to play in the 10 either. So why keep him?

You could argue that he provides a different option. Something different in terms of style. But I’m not sure Ten Hag wants different. I think he will want two players in every position that can execute plan A.

We need to be smarter in our squad management. Keeping Fred as a plan B is an expensive luxury when our current plan A is Eriksen and Casemiro. At some point in the not too distant future we will need to find long-term replacements for those two players and that is unlikely to come cheap. Getting Fred off the wage bill makes space for such a player and in McTominay we have a player that can provide the energy Fred does whilst also being better in the 6 and better in front of goal.

It would be a shame to see Fred go and I do believe that in the right system, a team that focuses purely on pressing and scoring goals in transitions, he is a top player. But Ten Hag’s United promises to be more than that. The standards have to be raised and Fred could be another casualty.
 
Too sloppy in possession. One big metric that's the difference between United and rivals is the quality of the team. City for instance have Gundogan as a squad option. Compare his quality alongside someone like Fred and you can see why United are where they are because the drop off between the first team and squad players is too significant.
 
footballbite said:
Why would you just release him though? There are surely clubs out there who'd still pay something like 5-10mil for him if you took up the 1 year contract extension.
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He’s allegedly on £120k a week so £6m gone if nobody will pay that for him. Might as well stick the money on a horse at those odds.
 
Sunny Jim said:
I think its a No brainer. Unless we have a free agent ready to come we cannot afford to release Fred. I dont think we have a January budget and i expect that our summer budget will be enough to buy a striker and a right back. And thats it
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What are you basing your speculation on? Fred is not a reliable option from the bench, and that is the only role he will play, therefore: get rid.
 
footballbite said:
Why would you just release him though? There are surely clubs out there who'd still pay something like 5-10mil for him if you took up the 1 year contract extension.
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We have this problem consistently where other clubs don't even want our players on loan because they don't want to pay his salary. Giving him a 1 year extension just makes us fall into that trap again.
 
Let him go. We need quality and maybe Hannibal can take his place which would be dope
 
Adnan said:
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Hmm I will be hopeful of it but we still have to remember Joel Glazer makes all the decisions around here so he might end up keeping Fred here for "protect the value" reasons like Phil Jones. Which is absolutely crazy when you think about it.
 
Right decision to release. He's been here years and has never consistently performed. I'm liking Ten Hag's ruthlessness.
 
Be for the best, but the summer may only bring a midfielder and centre back now with no centre forward.
 
He won't sniff the first 11 but we need depth, give him a chonky contract extension and deal with the bigger issues.
 
Smiling a lot should not be up there in the list of qualities required for first teamers.
 
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