Manchester United-bound Fred has suffered a World Cup injury scare after limping out of Brazil’s training session on Thursday with an ankle injury.
The 25-year-old is set to leave Shakhtar Donetsk for Old Trafford after the Premier League club announced they had agreed a fee to recruit the midfielder.
He has been included in Tite’s World Cup squad but was forced out of a session at Tottenham‘s Enfield training base, with ice applied to his right ankle.
Brazil start their bid to win an unprecedented sixth World Cup when they take on Group E rivals Switzerland on June 17 – with a final warm-up game coming against Austria in Vienna on Sunday.
Fred suffered the knock before trying to carry on with the training session, only to then require treatment on the sidelines.
Team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar said: “Today Fred had trauma in his ankle but it is too early to say anything about it.
“Tomorrow we watch to see what happens and then decide if we need to do any exams or not but at the moment it is too early to say anything about him.”
Brazil have been using Tottenham’s training ground as their base ahead of flying out to Russia – via their stop-off in Austria – and Real Madrid defender Marcelo also spoke to the press on Thursday afternoon.
He hopes Fred’s injury is nothing serious and that he will be back amongst the squad sooner rather than later.
“This is the World Cup, everyone is training hard and working hard,” said Marcelo.
“I believe that it is not that bad, it is not a big issue and he will be back with us as soon as possible.”
After their group opener against the Swiss, Brazil take on Costa Rica in St Petersburg before travelling to Russian capital Moscow to face Serbia.
