There were times in Fred's first season at Manchester United when it looked like he would be long gone from Old Trafford before arriving at a century of games for the club.
The Brazilian looked out of his depth at times as he battled to acclimatise to the Premier League, but he is now a regular fixture in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side and he will make his 100th appearance for the club at West Brom on Sunday.
Rather than take a loss on the £52million United paid Shakhtar Donetsk for the midfielder after one season, Solskjaer vowed to work with Fred and the patience shown in the 27-year-old has reaped its rewards.
Solskjaer believes it was always a case of Fred needing time to settle into a new league, something he began to achieve in his second campaign at the club.
"He’s really done well, I've enjoyed working with him for a couple of seasons," he said.
"When I came he was a boy who was struggling a little bit. I got numerous questions about Fred early on, as I said then it’s what we’re talking about players coming into a new country it takes time to settle, it took time for Fred to settle."
Solskjaer credits Michael Carrick and Kieran McKenna with helping him adapt to the pace of play in the Premier League, as well as Fred's desire to make a success of his United career.
"He’s grown in confidence, there’s less time in the Premier League, he’s quickened up his game, he’s not getting caught on the ball," Solskjaer said of Fred's improvement.
"I’m not going to take any credit for that, Michael and Kieran have been brilliant with him, Fred has the hunger and humility to improve and stick at it and keep working.
"There's not many people who can say they've played 100 games for Man United, [now] he needs to score from outside the box soon too but I’m not sure it’s going to be with his right [foot]. I’ve tried to tell him."
