'He will be a great team-mate' - Fred excited by Man Utd link-up with Matic

Fred is looking forward to linking up with Nemanja Matic at Manchester United and feels he will be a ‘great team-mate’.

The two crossed paths in Brazil’s 2-0 victory over Serbia in their final World Cup group game on Wednesday and the midfielders exchanged shirts after the final whistle , making United fans even more eager to see the two of them line up alongside each other next season.

Fred’s move to Old Trafford was confirmed last week, with the 25-year-old joining for around £52.5 million on a five-year-deal from Shakhtar Donetsk following five successful years in Ukraine, where he won three league titles.

He has received a warm welcome from Matic and is excited by the prospect of being on the same side as the former Chelsea midfielder.

"It was a nice chat with him, he welcomed me for coming to the great club that is Manchester United," Fred told ESPN Brasil . "We exchanged shirts, too, he will be a great team-mate."

Matic also commented on his new midfield partner after the game with Brazil and feels Fred ‘will bring great quality’ to Jose Mourinho’s squad.

"I spoke to him after the game, he is a great player, he will bring quality to our team," Matic told reporters.

"We will see [if we can work together]. I think we’ll understand each other very well."

Fred is United’s second signing of the summer after Diogo Dalot joined from Porto and he will be aiming to play a key role as Mourinho’s side look to close the gap to Manchester City next season.

The midfielder was a standout player as Shakhtar beat City 2-1 in this season’s Champions League group stage before they narrowly missed out on a quarter-final place after an away-goal defeat to eventual semi-finalists Roma.

Since making his Brazil debut in 2014, he has been capped eight times and is in their 23-man squad at the World Cup, but has yet to make an appearance for the tournament favourites.

He is the fourth most expensive signing in United’s history and has acknowledged that the move has not really sunk in yet as he is just trying to focus on the World Cup.

He added: "It's a big change, but I have not stopped yet... It still hasn't set in, I'm very focused here on the World Cup.

"I do not think much about it, but it's a great club in Europe, it's one of the biggest, so I'm very happy for that."