Manchester United fans were understandably excited when the club announced the £52 million signing of Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk back in June.The Brazilian midfielder had been strongly linked with a move to Manchester City - Pep Guardiola was reportedly a big fan - but it was United who won the race for his signature.Despite the buzz over his arrival, though, Fred has only featured sporadically for United.The South American has only managed to complete 90 minutes in the Premier League on three occasions this season - the most recent game being the 2-1 win over Everton in October.Fred was left out of the United squad completely against Arsenal in mid-week, leaving fans wondering why on earth Jose Mourinho bothered to sign him in the first place.The United manager was asked about Fred ahead of Saturday’s match against Fulham and said the midfielder must wait until the team is ‘better balanced’."Step by step," Mourinho said about Fred's progress on Friday, per BBC Sport."You also have other players in other clubs that needed their time, and you have some of them that played even less than Fred."When the team is defensively stronger and doesn't need people in midfield that are more worried about giving some balance to the team than being involved in creation and attacking dynamics, I think the horizons for Fred change completely."With United 3-1 up on cruising against 10-man Fulham at Old Trafford, Fred was given the final 17 minutes to make an impact.However, there was one moment shortly before full-time that left United supporters with their heads in their hands.After receiving the ball in midfield, Fred drove at the Fulham defence and could clearly see Diogo Dalot wide open inside the box.But instead of passing the ball to the Portuguese full-back - who was arguably United’s Man of the Match against Claudio Ranieri’s side - he instead attempted a back-heel which was comfortably intercepted by Fulham’s defenders.Watch it here…

No wonder he’s struggling to get a start at the moment. You’d expect much better decision-making for a player with his talent.

The incident was described as ‘woeful’ by the Manchester Evening News’s Samuel Luckhurst and it’s hard to disagree.

Other Man Utd fans were similarly unimpressed…

When you’re struggling for minutes, it’s vitally important to make the most of your opportunities to impress.

However, it’s safe to assume Fred will be back on the bench against Valencia on Wednesday night after this poor piece of play.