Manchester United are preparing to take on Fenerbahce in the Europa League and that means coming up against some familiar faces.
The attention turns to the Europa League for Manchester United as Erik ten Hag takes his side to Turkiye.
Fenerbahce await for United and Ten Hag really needs to get the Europa League campaign up and running.
United opened the campaign with a 1-1 draw against FC Twente before again drawing at Porto, this time in a bonkers 3-3 game.
Two points from two games just isn’t good enough and Ten Hag must come up with a result at Fenerbahce to ease the lingering pressure on his job.
Antony on Fenerbahce star Fred
The trip to Fenerbahce sees United run into seam familiar faces.
Former United boss Jose Mourinho is in charge at Fenerbahce following a summer move and he has been hit with two significant injuries this week.
Mourinho would no doubt love to beat United nearly six years since his departure from the club and he has two former United players at his disposal.
Mourinho pounced to sign Sofyan Amrabat in August, adding the ex-United midfielder after his loan spell at Old Trafford came to an end.
Amrabat is partnering Fred in midfield, with the Brazilian joining Fenerbahce from United for £13million in the summer of 2023.
Fred has bagged six goals and 11 assists in 45 appearances for Fenerbahce and has now been praised by one United player.
Winger Antony has hailed Fred whilst speaking to MUTV, suggesting that he is a simply ‘great player’ and a great person too.
Antony noted that he will try and speak to Fred upon facing each other tonight, but also wants to speak to former Ajax teammate Dusan Tadic too.
“Certainly, Fred is a great player and a great person too,” said Antony.
“I’m sure I will get a chance to speak with him, but not just him but also Dusan Tadic also, whom I played with as well.
“They are both great players who I respect a lot,” he added.
Antony was linked with Fenerbahce move
Antony is fighting for his United future right now and will hope for a chance to shine against Fenerbahce.
Speculation continues to surround his future and Antony was actually linked with following Fred to Fenerbahce in September.
Conflicting reports surrounded Mourinho’s interest in Antony with some suggesting that he fancied a loan deal to get the winger back on track.
Others believed that Fenerbahce weren’t chasing Antony and that the Brazilian didn’t really fancy the move anyway.
Antony would no doubt love to play with Fred again down the line, but his first priority is to secure his United future after a couple of difficult years at Old Trafford.
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