Fred Blasts Ex-Aston Villa Ace as He Names Him His Least Professional Teammate

· GiveMeSport

Fred has shared a wild story about a former teammate who was the least professional star he ever played with.

Fred is best known for his time at Manchester United , but he has been around the block a few times during his playing career.

The Brazil international has also represented Internacional, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Fenerbahce, before returning to his homeland with Atletico Mineiro earlier this summer.

Along the way, the central midfielder has played alongside some top players, including the likes of Paul Pogba , Marcus Rashford, Cristiano Ronaldo , and Bruno Fernandes, while his time in Turkey also saw him line up alongside players like Leonardo Bonucci, Dusan Tadic, Edin Dzeko, Allan Saint-Maximin, Marco Asensio, and Matteo Guendouzi.

But the 33-year-old won just one trophy during his three years in Istanbul despite the talent he was playing with, and in a recent interview he has shared a wild story from his time at the club.

While speaking on the Charla podcast, Fred revealed that there was a player at the club during his time who essentially gave up on training because of the money he was earning in his career, despite having huge talent.

Another star that Fred played alongside during his time in Istanbul was striker Jhon Duran, who moved to the club on loan from Al-Nassr just months after completing a £65m transfer from Aston Villa to the Middle East.

The Colombian striker was regarded as one of the top young strikers in world football after a breakout campaign with Villa during the 2024/25 season. But a bad attitude has seen his development stall, and Fred has revealed a conversation between the two that shocked him.

> "Jhon Duran didn’t really care about anything," he said.

> ‘Come on Duran, let’s train, let’s run a bit over there,’ I’d say.

> "‘Bro, I’m already rich. I don’t need to run,’ he’d say, then he’d go to the medical department and slack off.

> "When [Duran] went to Zenit St Petersburg, I said, ‘Ooo, now you’re gonna make even more money.’

> "‘Bro, the more the better, the more the better,’ he’d say. Sometimes when we talked, he’d say, ‘I’ve already saved the lives of me, my family, and three generations…’

> "At Fenerbahce, at least in the beginning, he was showing up for training and stuff, then he completely quit."

Now 22-years-old, Duran has seen his career stall. The striker hasn't played for the Colombia national team since June 2025 and missed out on a place in the squad for this summer's World Cup.

Following his loan spell at Fenerbahce, Duran spent half a season on loan with Zenit St Petersburg in Russia, scoring twice in just nine appearances, before joining Portuguese giants Benfica on a season-long loan move this past summer.

Benfica hold an option to make the move permanent for €22m (£18.6m) next summer, and Duran has scored twice in 12 appearances so far, although he has started just twice under Marco Silva.

Duran is on the verge of completing a shock move back to Europe - he earned insane money in Saudi Arabia despite being there for just five months.

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