Manchester United completed the £52m signing of Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk earlier this summer.

The Brazilian central midfielder was wanted by Pep Guardiola to replace Yaya Toure at Manchester City - but the Red Devils swooped in to beat their rivals to his signature.

Fred, 25, is a highly-rated box-to-box midfielder and was included in Brazil's World Cup squad in Russia this summer.

He initially moved to Shakhtar from Brazilian club Internacional for €15m in 2013.

Jose Mourinho believes Fred can complement the likes of Paul Pogba in the heart of Man United's midfield.

"Fred, you know we did it quite a long time ago, we started the process a long time ago," admitted Mourinho last week.

"We lost Michael Carrick, we think Fred is the kind of player we need to complement the qualities of our midfield players."

There aren't many Man United fans who have seen much of Fred in action - but one man who knows him inside out is Paulo Fonseca.

The current Shakhtar Donetsk manager worked with Fred for the past two seasons in Ukraine.

And, on Saturday, the 45-year-old Portuguese coach delivered his verdict on Man United's new Brazilian midfielder.

“Fred will be, in short term, one of the best in the world in his position," said Fonseca, as per Sport Witness.

"He’s a unique player.”

That is certainly high praise - and it might get Man United fans a little more excited for the upcoming season.

Fred is expected to join the Reds pre-season tour in the USA later this week.

Man United drew 1-1 with Club America in their opening pre-season fixture and Mourinho was not feeling very positive.

“The pre-season is very bad," said the enigmatic coach, as per The Guardian. "The positive thing is only for the young boys that have a fantastic opportunity to train with us.

"Next week will come De Gea, Matic and Fred which is good, especially for Fred.

“He is a new player with us but everything is really bad and then we go to the UK and have to play the Premier League.

"The broadcasters were not nice to us with the Friday match [against Leicester City on August 10th], which complicates more things."

How do you think Man United will fare this season? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.