Manchester United finally agreed a fee with Shakhtar Donetsk for Brazilian midfielder Fred on Tuesday for a reported amount of £52m.

It's been a long pursuit for the 25-year-old, with their interest first revealed last summer along with rivals Manchester City.

A year later and they now look certain to beat City to the player - although it's long looked that way.

Fred, who will travel to Russia with the Brazilian national team once everything is sorted, becomes the record sale for Shakhtar.

He isn't the first player to leave the club and end up with one of the continents more traditional giants, however.

The Ukrainians have built a reputation for themselves as both the first port of call for lesser-known Brazilians looking to make their name in Europe and for selling players on at a great profit.

Here we take a look at the footsteps Fred is following in.

Elano - Manchester City for £8 million in 2007

Elano was one of the first big success stories of Shakhtar's Brazilian revolution and his move to Man City was part of a new era at the club.

Thaksin Shinawatra had just bought City and pumped in money. Elano came in as one of the new stars and had a very successful first season there. However, Shinawatra was forced to sell the club again a year later to the current owners and even more money flowed.

Players like Robinho were brought in and Elano lost his favoured role as the creative force. He'd move on in 2009 to Galatasaray as a fondly remembered player for City.

Dmytro Chygrynskiy - Barcelona for €25 million in 2009

Chygrynskiy was signed after Pep Guardiola's historic debut season with Barcelona as the man to build their defence around - it turned out he wasn't that.

Instead, the Ukrainian has gone down as one of the clubs all-time worst buys, arriving for what was a huge fee and playing just 12 times in his sole season before being sold right back to Shakhtar for €15 million.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan - Borussia Dortmund for €27.5 million in 2013

Mkhitaryan was courted by several clubs in 2013 but Dortmund won the chase. Signed as a replacement for Bayern-bound Mario Gotze, Mkhitaryan was a big success in Germany.

He scored, created, and formed a great unit with attacking players like Marco Reus, Robert Lewandowski, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Man United would pay a reported £30 million in 2016 but he struggled under Jose Mourinho. The Armenian was let go as part of the deal to sign Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal in January 2018 where he looks to get back on track.

Fernandinho - Manchester City for £34 million in 2013

Fernandinho has been a massive success for City, becoming an integral part of their team instantly and holding onto that role for five years.

He's won two Premier League titles & three League Cups in that time and reached new heights this season under Guardiola in the team's record-breaking title win.

"No way. No way. Fernandinho is much, much better," said Pep when asked if he could have broken into his current side - safe to say he rates him.

Willian - Anzhi Makhachkala for €35 million in 2013

Okay, so Willian didn't exactly join a giant of a team, although Anzhi were making waves back then. Oil-rich (at least for a bit) they spent big and brought the Brazilian in January of 2013. Things quickly went wrong, however, with budget cuts forcing the entire squad on the transfer list just six months later.

Liverpool and Tottenham both wanted Willian but Chelsea got him in the end where he has gone on to be a great, if very inconsistent, player.

Two-times a Premier League champion, Willian has often looked like the best player in the Chelsea side over the last five years, although he equally as often struggles to cement a place in the side.

He's also linked with Man United this summer, potentially linking up with former coach Mourinho - and compatriot Fred.

And so there's what Fred has to live up to at United; a mixed, but promising bag for him to follow.

What is clear, though, is if you look hard enough, you can find a real gem of a player at Shakhtar. And United will be hoping they've done just that.