Fred has left some Manchester United teammates without any excuses

Fred and Scott McTominay are barely Anderson and Darren Fletcher, never mind Paul Ince and Roy Keane. Whoever the next Manchester United manager is, their futures are still assured.

Both have been overplayed the last few years, a consequence of the midfield malaise at a club that has not signed an outright central midfielder since Fred checked in for a medical on the eve of the 2018 World Cup. McTominay has since signed two new contracts since. Perversely, Fred has not received a renewal.

In a season where only Anthony Elanga has been summoned to the Carrington press room to pose with a dummy contract, Fred should be next in line. There would inevitably be outrage and despair from some and, yes, United cannot seem to go a year without doling out an incongruous contract to a player undeserving. Fred would be deserving.

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His performance against Tottenham was 'one of the best performances since I was here', in the words of Ralf Rangnick. A frustrated Fred ended the Manchester derby rounding on Aaron Wan-Bissaka, smacking his hands repeatedly, and he channeled that into a purposeful performance. Fred displayed that steely side a handful of times during crowdless matches where he confirmed his grasp of English, at least as far as the expletives were concerned.

Fred only misplaced four of his 45 passes against Spurs as he provided the conduit between defence and attack. His passing was adventurous and steel supplemented the silk as Fred recorded six blocks and was carded for protesting against Spurs' penalty.

"He's probably, together with Scott McTominay, one the best ball-winners if the other team is in possession," Rangnick said of Fred after the win over Tottenham.