Manchester United will look to win the Champions League next season, says Fred

James Westwood

Manchester United will look to win the Champions League next season, says Fred image

Fred has insisted that Manchester United will "look to win the Champions League next season" ahead of their final day showdown against Leicester.

United are currently sitting third in the Premier League standings on goal difference ahead of Chelsea, with Leicester a point further back in fifth.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men will be guaranteed a place in the Champions League if they can secure at least a draw at the King Power Stadium on Sunday.

However, if Leicester win and Chelsea beat Wolves at Stamford Bridge, the Red Devils could drop out of the top-four completely - a scenario which Fred is refusing to contemplate.

The Brazil international says United "deserve" a place among Europe's elite next season, and he even believes they are capable of mounting a realistic challenge for the famous trophy.

“As a club, we should be in the Champions League every year as we’re a massive club,“ Fred told the United's official website.

“So to be back in the Champions League is really important for us players, it's also important for the club.

“It’s what the players and the club deserve. It will be great to be back in the Champions League next season and we will look to win.”

One man likely to start against Leicester is Harry Maguire, who completed a switch to Old Trafford from the King Power for a record fee of £80 million (£102m) last summer.

The England international helped United beat his old club 1-0 in this season's reverse fixture, and Fred expects his team-mate to put in another solid showing at the heart of the defence.

“It must be a great feeling for him [Maguire] because he’ll be going back to see his old team-mates,” said the 27-year-old. “He was there for a long time, so he must have some strong friendships there and so it must be good feeling.

”But today he’s representing Manchester United and, as we’ve said, he will be doing his everything to avoid us conceding and come away with the win."

Fred went onto to discuss the potential "threat" of Leicester striker Jamie Vardy, who is currently leading the race for this season's Golden Boot on 23 goals.

“He’s not the top scorer just by chance,“ the Brazilian added. ”So we need to nullify his threat. He’s a top player and he’s having a great season.

“We need to take a lot of care with him. He’s a very good player, we need to think about his goal threat, but we have very good players in defence who are capable of nullifying him.”

James Westwood