‘Wan-Bissaka plays for the badge at Man Utd’ – Rafael hails fellow full-back & ‘great player’ Fred

Aaron Wan-Bissaka “plays for the badge” at Manchester United, says former Red Devils full-back Rafael, while Fred is considered to be proving himself as a “great player”.

Those at Old Trafford invested over £100 million ($124m) in securing the signatures of Wan-Bissaka and Fred.

The highly-rated defender was snapped up from Crystal Palace in the summer of 2019, while the Brazil international midfielder was acquired 12 months prior to that.

Both have proven their worth during the current campaign, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer finding a spark in his first full season at the helm.

Wan-Bissaka has offered an immediate return on the investment made in him, with the 22-year-old proving to be a shrewd addition to a defensive unit that had the found the formula for regular clean sheets immediately prior to football shutting down during the coronavirus crisis.

Rafael told United’s official website of the man filling the same right-back berth as he once did for the Red Devils: “I really like him [Wan-Bissaka]. I really like him - the way he plays, and his mentality.

“I think United now, we need to think about mentality, and I think Aaron is like this. He wants to win; he wants to win every ball, and that's good. He plays for the badge; that's important.”

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Another of those to be displaying full commitment to the cause is South American schemer Fred, with Rafael pleased to see his fellow countryman finding form after a testing start to his time in English football.

He added on the hard-working 27-year-old: “I've been very impressed, because, at the beginning, I heard a lot of comments about him: 'Ah, he's no good' or things like that.

“I like what he did, because it's about mentality as well. He's just turned everything around. Maybe he can be our best player at Manchester this season. We can see he's a great player.”

Rafael, who spent seven years at Old Trafford between 2008 and 2015, is currently on the books of Ligue 1 giants Lyon.

He has fond memories of his time in England and hopes his path will cross with United again at some stage in the future – potentially in Europa League or Champions League competition.

“I'm 30 now, so I have years left to play,” Rafael said.

“So, of course, I fancy to play at Old Trafford. It would be amazing. I never did, but who knows? Maybe, one day, we can play at Old Trafford again.”