Manchester United midfielder Fred has expressed his gratitude towards Michael Carrick for helping him through a frustrating period of “adaptation” at Old Trafford.

Fred completed a £52 million ($64m) move to United from Shakhtar Donetsk in the summer of 2018, but struggled to live up to that hefty price tag during his first full season in England. The 27-year-old quickly fell out of favour under Jose Mourinho, and his fortunes did not improve initially under his successor Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

By the end of the 2019-20 campaign, Fred was being tipped for a move away from Old Trafford, amid reported interest from a number of clubs across Europe. However, Solskjaer ultimately decided to give the Brazil international another chance to prove himself, and has been rewarded for his faith this season.

Fred has been a regular in the Norwegian manager’s starting XI, featuring in 39 games across all competitions to help United fight for a top-four Premier League finish as well as success in both the FA Cup and Europa League.

The former Shakhtar star credits assistant coach Carrick for working closely with him on the training pitch over the last couple of years, insisting there couldn’t have been “anyone better” to guide him through choppy waters at the start of his United career.

“He has helped me a lot in this process of adaptation and transition,” Fred told Trivela of Carrick’s influence behind the scenes. “He’s a guy who was an idol at the club and was a great player in the same position that I play.

“On a daily basis, he helps me a lot, always talking to me. After training we always do a little work to complement it, sometimes finishing, sometimes passing.

“He’s a guy who understands the game, who lived it, and it’s impossible for there to be anyone better than him to help me.

“He knows about the difficulties, the shortcuts, and he tries to show me everything there is in training and in games. He’s a guy who has been of huge importance for me at United and I’m very grateful to him.”

Fred added on the “difficult” adjustment period he faced on both a professional and personal level after moving to England: “There is always that adaptation process, right? Last season was very difficult, it changed a lot not only in my career, but also in my personal life.

“My wife was pregnant when I arrived in England, we were in a different condition. I arrived at a club of a gigantic dimension, a championship that is the most disputed, the best in the world, so it ends up being difficult to adapt.

“This season I managed to put my football into practice, I had a good sequence of games, which I didn’t have last season. I am very happy to be playing well, to be doing a great championship and I hope that when I return, I can improve more and more.”