Fenerbahçe vs Manchester United: Fred on José Mourinho and his Europa League reunion – interview

Having left Man United for Fenerbahçe in the summer of 2023, Brazilian midfielder Fred has faced a flurry of reunions. First, his former Old Trafford boss José Mourinho was appointed as his new coach in Istanbul, while on Thursday, he will be facing his old team-mates in the UEFA Europa League.

It is a lot for the 31-year-old to take in, but the former Shakhtar Donetsk man is enjoying life as one of the senior players in the Fenerbahçe squad, and is looking forward to meeting his friends from his United days – and hopefully sending them back to Manchester point-less.

Fred on his move to Fenerbahçe

Leaving United to come here was a huge change, but I’m very happy here. I’ve had a great start. It’s a different and wonderful country to live in. During the settling-in process, my wife [Monique Salum] was pregnant, and my son was born here: He’s Turkish!

Over the years, you get more experience, so you can show that on the pitch, in the dressing room with your team-mates, and there also are many experienced players here who are helping the younger ones. It’s important to help your team-mates on the pitch – talking about positioning and giving advice before games, during games, too. I’m one of the most experienced. I’m not the captain, but I feel like I am.

On teaming up with José Mourinho again

I don’t need to talk about Mourinho’s qualities; everyone knows them and the titles he has won. He’s a great manager, and I’m very grateful to him. He was one of the key people who brought me to Manchester United. When I was at Shakhtar, he called me, saying that he wanted me to go to United, and after a call from José Mourinho, I obviously couldn’t reject it.

And now, I’m at Fenerbahçe, and he’s here again, so we’re back together. I’m very grateful and happy to work with him. He’s a great and respected person who contributes a lot to the backroom staff and the players. We want to win many titles, and he came for that; to help us reach the top of the table, to fight for European honours, and I’m sure that together we’ll do a good job here.

On the Europa League so far

We had a good start against a strong team, against Union [SG]. They played very well, and it was a tough home match, but we won. Later, we earned a hard-fought point against Twente, so it hasn’t been an easy campaign so far. We need to be careful. We’ll now have a very difficult game against Manchester United. We know the quality they have in their team, so we need to try and get a result because the more points we earn, the better it will be for us.

We know that. We know how strong the other teams are, but we are focused, and we are looking to go all the way, too. So, I’m sure we’ll put in some great performances, and, hopefully, we’ll have a great European campaign.

On his time at United

Despite the cold – because it’s really cold there – those were five great years in Manchester. I felt welcomed there. My first child was born in England. I made many friends in the coaching staff, the physios, some players. They were here in Türkiye [in October 2023] when they played against our arch-rival, Galatasaray, and I visited them at their hotel.

If I’m here now, I thank Fenerbahçe, but I also have to thank Manchester United a lot for everything I experienced there, for my development as a player and as a person. It will be great to see all those guys again, all the friends I left there, but I hope we win. I cheer for them, I follow the club, but now, I hope that Fenerbahçe wins. It will be tough, but I hope we win with the support of our fans, which will be very important.