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Jose Mourinho wants Manchester City transfer target Fred as Paul Pogbas replacement

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Upgrade? Jose Mourinho identifies £50m replacement for Pogba and orders raid — Fred is wanted by both Manchester clubs (Picture: Getty)

Jose Mourinho has identified £50million-rated Shakhtar Donetsk star Fred as the perfect replacement for Paul Pogba, reports say.

Manchester United will have to fend off competition from Manchester City as Pep Guardiola has been following the midfielder since last summer.

Mourinhos faith in Pogba has slowly eroded throughout the season and the United boss opened fire on his most expensive star over the weekend.

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Pogba was part of the United side that were beaten 1-0 by West Brom and Mourinho hauled the playmaker off after just 58 minutes.

Mourinho has reportedly put Pogba up for sale, despite the clubs resistance and the Mirror claim Fred is the United managers first-choice replacement.

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Fred is valued at around £50m by his club and is considered a powerful, commanding midfielder.

Manchester United 2017/18 Fixtures

Bournemouth (A) – Wed 18 April
Tottenham – FA Cup (N) – Sat April 21
Arsenal (H) – Sun April 29
Brighton (A) – Fri May 4
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Mourinho has been continually frustrated by Pogbas lack of tactical awareness and wants a player who can carry out his orders on the pitch.

City and United will battle it out for Freds services, with the Brazilian keen to move to the Premier League.

Guardiolas side have just been crowned the Premier League champions, but have shown resistance to pay over the odds for players.

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Fred celebrates — Fred will be able to chose between Manchester City and United (Picture: Getty)

Uniteds interest will surely prompt Shakhtar to up the asking price, which may force City to drop out of the running.

City refused to meet the wage demands of Alexis Sanchez in January and the Chilean ended up joining United instead.

United will be hoping they can out-bid City a second time, but it remains to be seen if the Red Devils board will sanction the sale of Pogba.

The France international cost £89million, a club record, less than two years ago and United will be reluctant to cut their losses so soon after splashing out that monster fee.