'Fake news' - Fred rubbishes Manchester United rumours and defends Ralf Rangnick

Fred has branded rumours of dressing room unrest at Manchester United as ‘fake news’ and jumped to the defence of Ralf Rangnick, describing the interim manager as a ‘great coach’.

Rangnick took over the reins from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on a six-month deal at the end of the November and results have been mixed under the German, with the Red Devils knocked out of the FA Cup and winning just nine from 16 games in all competitions.

An explosive The Daily Mail report last month claimed as many as 17 players were unhappy with life at United and Fred was mentioned as one of those not entirely content, along with the likes of Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial.

However, the Old Trafford giants have bounced back from successive draws in the Premier League to secure victory in their last two matches against Brighton and Leeds and find themselves in fourth place, back in the driving seat for Champions League qualification.

Fred came off the bench to score United’s third in a 4-2 defeat of Leeds at Elland Road and the Brazilian addressed the recent speculation swirling around the club in an interview with ESPN Brasil after his emphatic 70th-minute strike.

‘We’re evolving, we’re working,’ the midfielder said.

‘Rangnick is a great coach. It’s also difficult to change coaches there in the middle of the season, but we are fitting in, we are working to understand his work. We’re already much better at this.

‘We’re trying to get the win every game. So this is important to us. This was a great victory, Wednesday we have a big game against Atletico Madrid and we have to stay focused.

‘As I said, it’s keeping your head on straight, step by step, that we’re going to finish the season in our best possible place.’

On talk of dressing