Manchester United's record when it comes to signings made over the past few transfer windows has been a mixed bag.
None have really hit the heights of Bruno Fernandes in terms of impact and he's the only player who has really been a resounding success bar maybe Edinson Cavani.
The rest are either considered to be 'occasionally fantastic but too inconsistent' or 'does the job but nothing outstanding'.
However, it's very easy to shoehorn players into these categories and label them 'transfer failures' when other factors such as hefty transfer fees are often used as a way to criticise them. I believe Fred falls into this category.
Signed by Jose Mourinho for a fee that varies wherever you look - Transfermarkt has it at £53.1m - Fred has divided opinion within the United fanbase.
His infamous 'McFred' partnership with Scott McTominay was ever-present during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's reign and has now carried on into Ralf Rangnick's interim tenure. But the similarities between Rangnick and Solskjaer's use of the Brazilian end there.
First of all, let's dispel one of the biggest myths about Fred: he is not a defensive midfielder.
This misconception seemed to begin when Manchester City were linked with him as they looked to replace Fernandinho, but Pep Guardiola realised Fred couldn't fill his countryman's boots during the scouting process and instead moved for Rodri.
But the narrative that Fred was a defensive midfielder stuck and when United signed him there was some expectation he would be defensively sound and technically proficient if Guardiola had been monitoring him.
The narrative only deepened when Mourinho left to be replaced by Solskjaer and the McFred pivot was created. Not because either player was a defensive midfielder (McTominay is more suited to this role but clearly has a bigger impact when driving forward), but because they were United's most mobile players who could cover a lot of ground in the absence of a dedicated number six.
However, it finally seems Rangnick is set to put the record straight. At Shakhtar Donetsk, Fred played much further forward and pressed high to force the opposition into mistakes before creating high-quality chances for his teammates.
He is an offensive threat and that's a side we never saw under Mourinho or Solskjaer. But under Rangnick, so far we've seen this regularly as part of his high-pressing system.
Since the German became interim boss, no player has more goal contributions than Fred, with one goal and four assists to his name.
Two of his assists have come from winning the ball high up the pitch and the other two have come from pushing up the field and then playing the ball over the top of the defensive line.
It may take a while for Fred to shake the years of misuse that have defined his United career and he also needs to improve in possession, but under Rangnick he's going to be an incredibly important piece in the club's push for the top four.
Have you been impressed by Fred under Ralf Rangnick? Follow our United On My Mind writer Casey Evans on Twitter and get involved in the discussion in the comment section below.
