Manchester United sign Brazil star Fred on five-year deal from Shakhtar Donetsk

Jose Mourinho will step up his efforts to bring in a centre-half after Manchester United announced the £52 million signing of Brazil midfielder, Fred, from Shakhtar Donetsk on Thursday.

Fred, 25, who is currently on World Cup duty with Brazil, has signed a five-year contract with United that will tie him to Old Trafford until June 2023 albeit with an option to extend for a further 12 months.

United agreed a deal weeks ago but the announcement was delayed while the player waited for a work permit to be granted.

Fred becomes United’s second signing of the summer following the £19 million arrival of Portugal Under-21 right back Diogo Dalot from Porto earlier this month and Mourinho will now focus his efforts on the recruitment of a centre-back, with Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld among the targets.

Mourinho is also waiting for clarification over the future of Belgium midfielder, Marouane Fellaini, who is out of contract at the end of this month, as he waits to discover if he will need to recruit an imposing attacking midfielder.

The United midfielder hopes Fred will bring some more dynamism to the midfield and also help liberate Paul Pogba as he bids to close the gap on champions Manchester City, who pursued the Brazilian before switching their sights to Napoli’s Jorginho.

“Fred will complement our other midfielders' qualities, which we need; his creative brain and passing vision will give us another dimension to our game,” Mourinho said. “I am very happy he is joining our club and I believe our players know how important he can be in our team.”

Fred’s unveiling as a United player on Twitter bore similarities to the way they announced Alexis Sanchez’s arrival from Arsenal in January and became the latest example of the desperate attempts by clubs to create a social media fanfare around new signings.

A video showed United’s mascot, Fred the Red, playing the piano, as Sanchez had in January, before a voice shouts, “Fred, it’s not your signing, I’ve already told you we’re not doing the piano thing again,” and the Brazilian comes into shot wearing a United shirt.

Fred, who is 5ft 7in and describes himself as a midfield “conductor”, marked his arrival by saying: “This is the biggest club in the world and I am delighted to be a part of this amazing team. To work with Jose Mourinho, who has won so many trophies in his time as a coach, is an opportunity not to be missed.”

Fred becomes the latest Brazilian to move to the Premier League and received the best wishes of his compatriots Willian and Gabriel Jesus.

“He’s going to one of the best teams in the world and I’m happy for him,” said Chelsea forward Willian, who has been linked with a move to Old Trafford and a reunion with Mourinho. “I hope he plays well for Manchester United.”

Manchester City striker, Jesus, promised to help show Fred around the city but would not be offering any help on the pitch. “I’ll support him wherever he goes,” he said. “I can’t cheer for the team [United] but i will always support him.”