Fred: I know I’m not Manchester United’s star – I’m the piano carrier

Frederico Rodrigues de Paula Santos, more commonly known as Fred, grew up in the beautiful Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte, but he feels just as happy walking along the beaches of the Welsh seaside town with his wife, Monique, and their son, Benjamin.

“Llandudno is beautiful,” Fred, 29, says. “I like to be on the coast. It’s a nice place to go and it’s only an hour from my house. My family likes to go there and look at the view.”

Fred may come from the other side of the world, but it turns out that he is a walking, talking - and smiling - advert for British tourism.

When he has longer breaks in his schedule during the season, Fred travels further afield to Dubai and Switzerland. But on the odd days off, he likes to explore different parts of the UK.

“Nowadays, you have all the information you need in your hand,” he says, pointing to his iPhone, which has a bright casing decorated in the colours of the Brazil national flag.

“I just search for a good place to go; I get in my car and I go there with my family. I like to go to the Lake District. I love it there. We’ve been to Scotland, to Edinburgh, and we’ve been to London.”

The purpose of these trips is twofold. First, he and his family want to experience the British culture and way of life while they are in Manchester - a city they proudly call home - and second, it is a form of escapism for the United midfielder.

“It’s good to have an off switch,” he says, turning his thumb and forefinger 90 degrees clockwise, like a wrist spinner. “Then, you are not just working. It’s good to change the mind.”

Fred’s job is - as he acknowledges - the stuff of dreams, but it comes with pressure too. “We play for Man United, so sometimes you have to have that off switch,” he adds.

He is coping well with that pressure judging by his form, which is good news for Erik ten Hag given that the United manager will have to rely on the Brazil star more than ever after Christian Eriksen was ruled out for at least three months with an ankle injury.

Despite playing - and scoring - in United’s 2-0 Carabao Cup semi-final, second-leg win over Nottingham Forest the night before, Fred was full of energy on Thursday as he took part in a mental health and wellbeing activity session with 15 children from the Co-op Academy, Swinton, who had been invited to the Carrington training ground by the Manchester United Foundation.

By the end of the session, the students are more than familiar with his frighteningly bright white teeth. Fred, it seems, cannot go ten seconds without smiling or laughing.

That is the case too during our half-hour interview, when he discusses a wide range of topics, from his love of Ronaldinho - “he was magic” - to the community of Brazilian footballers in the northwest, to his desire to win his first trophy with United.

The only time that his smile disappears is when the discussion shifts to the topic of Ukraine. Before joining United for pounds 52 million in the summer of 2018, Fred played for Shakhtar Donetsk for five years and he still has friends in the country.

The conflict in Ukraine troubles him greatly. His voice becomes choked with emotion as he recalls the phone calls he had with the Shakhtar players Junior Moraes and Dodo in February last year, when Russia invaded.

“I was devastated when I saw the news on TV,” he says. “When it started, I tried to talk with them. They spoke to me about the bombs dropping in [Kyiv] near their homes. They were scared. I can’t imagine what it was like. They managed to get out and thank god they are safe but I am praying for everyone in Ukraine.”

Both players found new clubs abroad but Fred has other friends who are still in Ukraine, such as his former teammate Darijo Srna, who is Shakhtar’s director of football. Fred fondly recalls moving to Donetsk in 2013 after his transfer from Internacional in Brazil.

“In the squad there were other Brazilian players, so that helped, but at the start I’d go to the supermarket and I wouldn’t know how to say anything to anyone,” Fred says, smiling once more. “I moved there with my mum. We were in Donetsk for the first year and then the team moved to Kyiv [in 2014 after Russia’s first incursion].”

Fred has been on the receiving end of criticism - some of it unfair - during his time in England, but it is worth noting that he has been a regular in the Brazil squad for the best part of a decade.

Fred cites another Brazilian midfielder, Gilberto Silva, as one of the biggest influences on his career. Silva, a member of Arsenal’s “Invincibles” team of 2003-04, is Fred’s agent. The 46-year-old was particularly helpful to Fred during his first season at United, which was chaotic. Five months after Fred’s arrival, the man who signed him, Jose Mourinho, was sacked, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took charge.

“When I first came to England, I found it hard to adapt so he [Gilberto] helped me,” Fred says. “We spoke a lot. He helped me stay calm and do the right things.”

The pair still speak most days. “Gilberto won a World Cup [in 2002] with a lot of stars in front of him but he always worked hard. It was the same at Arsenal,” Fred says. “I look at the way he played the game and I try to play the same. I carry the piano for the rest of the team and for me that’s no problem. I’m not a star.”

Fred may believe that but last month he claimed the honour of becoming the Brazilian with the most appearances for United, surpassing Anderson’s record of 181 games.

The midfielder has matched his own record tally of four goals in a season and is looking more decisive in the final third thanks to the arrival of Casemiro, who offers more protection to the back four. The two have played alongside each other for Brazil for seven years.

“Casemiro sent me a message last summer saying: ‘Maybe I will come to United,’ ” Fred says. “I know his quality so I messaged him back, saying: ‘You need to come here today, right now!’ I admire him a lot. He’s a world-class player. It’s so important for him to be in our team.”

Fred believes that Ten Hag deserves praise for restoring confidence and order to the dressing room. “He is a good coach and has helped us a lot. Now we have an identity to show to other teams,” Fred says. “He has put rules [up] inside the dressing room - don’t be late, don’t do wrong things, always do what you can to help your partner - and that’s important. We are growing every day.”

Fred, who has 18 months left on his contract, may be a record breaker, but the most important thing for him is to add another winner’s medal to his collection, which he keeps locked away in his Cheshire home.

He has plenty of winners for company in and around the neighbourhood. Ederson, the Manchester City goalkeeper, lives nearby, as does Alisson, the Liverpool goalkeeper, while Fernandinho and Gabriel Jesus are former neighbours. They, along with the other Portuguese-speaking players in the area, have formed a little community and they meet occasionally for barbecues and social occasions.

“There are a lot of Brazilians around here and when it’s possible we try to get together,” Fred says. “In January it was my son’s birthday, so we got everyone together. We have barbecues. Alisson is very good [at cooking] because he was born in the south of Brazil. That’s the best place for barbecues in Brazil. I just look on, take in the smell and eat.”

When they face each other on the pitch, the competitive edge returns. Fred is even more hungry for success with United.

“To be the Brazilian with the most appearances for United makes me happy and proud,” he says. “But I also want to win trophies. We all do because we know the size of this club.”

-The Times

Originally published as Fred: I know I’m not Manchester United’s star – I’m the piano carrier