Solskjær wants this Barcelona star to replace Fred with

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has his eyes set on FC Barcelona’s Miralem Pjanić as a potential replacement for Fred next season.

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According to Fichajes, the United boss feels confident that a player like Pjanić can add a lot of value in that CDM role for the club. The plan seems to be pairing Pjanić alongside Scott McTominay, displacing Fred in the team.

How has Pjanić been for Barcelona?

The Bosnian only moved to Barcelona last year from Juventus in a swap deal for Arthur. In his 17 appearances for the Blaugrana, he is yet to register a goal or an assist. It is clear that the manager, Ronald Koeman, does not see the player as a contributing factor to his plans.

He has been an unused substitute in the last six league games. So it won’t be a surprising factor if the player chooses to move elsewhere in the summer. The 31-year-old has somehow made himself a transfer target for this summer in Solskjaer’s eyes as he is not convinced by Fred’s contribution this season.

Fred vs Pjanić, who’s better?

Culers would feel this as an outlandish choice for the United boss as statistically, Fred seems to be fairing a lot better than his counterpart did in his initial season at the Camp Nou. In the defensive aspects of the game, Pjanić has averaged 0.8 tackles per game to Fred’s 2.7. Pjanić has made 0.6 interceptions per match in La Liga compared to Fred’s 1.6 in the Premier League.

Offensively Fred has produced higher numbers higher up the pitch as well. Considering key passes per game this season, Fred has made 0.8, whilst Pjanić is down at 0.5. So you can see a pattern here that shows Fred has been far more influential for his team than Pjanić.

Bringing Pjanić in is a risky move for Manchester United. It looks like the Bosnian’s good days are behind him as he has hit a trough in his career. Certainly, his career has been a decorated one, but the current season has shown that he has been far from his prime.

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Would you like Pjanić to play at Old Trafford next season?

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