Owen Hargreaves has praised Manchester United midfielder Fred for turning his Premier League career around.
The Brazilian endured a hugely disappointing debut season at Old Trafford following a £50m move from Shakhtar Donetsk in summer 2018.
However, Fred has become an integral member of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side this term - and Hargreaves believes his improvement is down to a change of role.
“He’s a complete midfield player but if he can add goals to his game then he’ll be the perfect midfield player," he told Premier League Productions.
“In possession he’s very good, out of possession he’s really aggressive and now the players around him are functioning which is a really good sign.
“I think because they paid £50m for Fred and he’s Brazilian that people thought he was a No.10 but he isn’t.
“He’s not a goalscorer and he’s not really creative but what he is is a really good midfield player. He’s two-footed and now we’re seeing the player that was at Shakhtar, where in the Champions League he put in some brilliant performances against the best teams.
“He’s energetic without the ball and now with [Nemanja] Matic as a sitter Fred can be box-to-box, before he was too high and sometimes too deep but now this is a midfield three [Matic, Fred, Bruno Fernandes] it’s balanced, everyone feels comfortable.”
United beat LASK 5-0 in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie on Thursday, extending their unbeaten run to 11 games in all competitions.
However, the Premier League announced on Friday that the season would be put on hold until April 4 at the earliest due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
United are currently fifth in the standings, three points behind Chelsea and two ahead of Wolves.
Solskjaer's side are also in the FA Cup quarter-finals, where they were due to face Norwich next weekend.
READ MORE
COVID-19 coronavirus: How is it affecting football? Premier League, Champions League, Euro 2020 updates and more
Steven Gerrard is proving himself as a manager in Europe - so why aren't his Rangers side up to it domestically?
It's easy to want to hate RB Leipzig – but it's a plastic club that still treats its fans right
