Manchester United could already have Frenkie de Jong's perfect midfield partner at the club

It's the transfer window so understandably there is a clamour to see who Manchester United will sign over the next couple of months. But while everyone is interested in who Erik ten Hag will be bringing in, the Dutchman is set to get to work with many of the pilloried players who turned out for United last season in a few days' time.

If United had a most-improved player award, Fred would've been a strong contender to clinch it. Freed from the McFred pivot, the Brazillian midfielder played much further forward under Ralf Rangnick and thrived; he pressed from the front and consistently dispossessed his opponents before laying it off for his teammates to score.

Though with United being linked with moves for Frenkie de Jong and Christian Eriksen, there doesn't seem to be room for either Fred or Scott McTominay, especially if the expectation is that Bruno Fernandes will also still start. So what does this mean for the 29-year-old midfielder?

Manchester United are taking risks to transform the team in the transfer window

Fred still has a role to play under Ten Hag even with a host of new signings hopefully coming through the door at Old Trafford. He is one of the only members of the squad that currently understands the positional style of play that the Dutchman will try to implement.

Throughout last season, even when he was playing deeper as part of a pivot, you could see it. Whenever his teammates received the ball under pressure he was always in a position to receive a pass, this sometimes got him into trouble as being a get-out jail-free option often led to players like McTominay playing poor passes to him causing him to lose possession.

With much more technical players around him like De Jong and potentially Antony