Ole Gunnar Solskjaer holds talks with Fred and assures him of Man Utd first-team plans amid loan transfer interest

OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER has held talks with Fred to assure him he is part of his Manchester United first-team plans.

The Brazilian midfielder failed to live up to expectation last season after his £52m arrival from Shakhtar Donetsk.

He struggled to nail down a regular spot in the starting XI, and could not get up to speed with the Premier League.

But Solskjaer has big aspirations for the 26-year-old and wants to help him to adapt to the pace of England.

It is understood United have already turned down several loan enquiries from clubs across Europe.

An Old Trafford source said: “Ole has held a couple of telephone conversations with Fred over the last few weeks.

“He wants to repay the managers faith. There has been some interest but everyone fully thinks he’ll come good.

“He's been doing some private fitness work to help him get stronger, keeping to the schedule he was handed.”

Fred has jetted out to Western Australia to meet up with his United team-mates on their pre-season tour in Perth.

He will then go on to South-East Asia with the squad to complete their trip before the big kick-off next month.

United face Chelsea on the opening weekend of the season, live on Sky Sports' Super Sunday.

Solskjaer still has plenty of work to do in the transfer market, as he looks to improve on last season's sixth-place finish.