Fred

Frederico Chaves Guedes (born 3 October 1983), also known as Fred, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a striker.

Fred began his career at América Mineiro before transferring to local rivals Cruzeiro in 2004.

After two seasons there, he moved to Lyon of France in a protracted transfer saga, and won three consecutive Ligue 1 titles.

Fred spent one season as a professional at América Mineiro of Belo Horizonte before he left for their city rival Cruzeiro in middle of the 2004 season.

As Feyenoord had an agreement with América, the Dutch club received Magrão from Cruzeiro, and retained 10% economic rights on Fred, and Fred himself held 15%.

He made his international debut for Brazil in 2005 and was selected for the 2006 World Cup, and was also part of their victories at the 2007 Copa América and the 2013 Confederations Cup.

After scoring 41 goals in 43 games for Cruzeiro in the 2005 season, Fred was signed by defending Ligue 1 champions Lyon for €15 million.

(of which €3 million was received by Fred, 5% as a solidarity contribution, €1.4 million to Lyon's agent and €510,913 in Brazilian taxes).

Feyenoord then claimed Cruzeiro's 10% of the transfer fee, as the club alleged the fee was €1.5 million instead of the €933,908.70 in Cruzeiro's viewpoint.

The Dutch club sued to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and won.

With 14 goals in his first season, Fred was the second-highest goalscorer in the 2005–06 Ligue 1 season, and won his first league title with Lyon.

Although he missed two months of the 2006–07 season, Fred still scored 11 goals in 20 games, and was the club's top scorer as Lyon defended their title.

In September 2006 he scored goal against Real Madrid in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League after a long pass by Juninho, where he outstrengthed defender Fabio Cannavaro before chipping the ball over goalkeeper Iker Casillas and into the goal.

During the 2007–08 season, however, Fred was injured during a training session at the 2007 Copa América.

He made his comeback in October 2007, but due to competition with new signing Milan Baroš and youth product Karim Benzema, Fred had limited first team opportunities.

In summer 2008 Fred was linked with a move to Bundesliga club Werder Bremen but it did not materialise.

He played 15 games out of possible 20 for Lyon in the 2008–09 season.

From 2009 to 2016, Fred played for Fluminense, where he won two Campeonato Brasileiro Série A titles in two years (2010 and 2012) and the Campeonato Carioca (2012 – scoring in final), also being top scorer of the 2012 Serie A. In June 2016, Fred signed for Atlético Mineiro.

He played his last match for Lyon on 10 January 2009 after he requested to leave the club in December 2008.

On 26 February 2009, he was released from his contract.

After being released from Lyon and refusing to return from Brazil, Fred signed a pre-contract with Brazilian club Fluminense, consequently agreeing to a five-year deal.

He scored twice on his debut on 15 March 2009, as Fluminense beat Macaé 3–1.

Fred helped Fluminense escape from relegation in 2009, after returning from an injury for 15 matches.

In 2010, he was the leader of the Fluminense squad that won the 2010 Série A title, despite having missed 22 games.

Later in July 2011, he went on to break the record for most goals in the Brasileirao when he scored a brace against Bahia, taking his tally to 44 goals.

On 16 November 2011, Fred scored poker (four goals) in a historic 5–4 victory against Gremio.

Four days later, he scored a hat trick in a 4–0 victory against Figueirense, and finished the season second in the top scorer's chart with 22 goals.

On 11 November 2012, Fred scored two goals in a 3–2 win over Palmeiras, clinching the 2012 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A for Fluminense and finishing as the league's top scorer and best player.

Fred almost left the club after disagreements with head coach Levir Culpi in April 2016, but eventually remained.

On 8 June 2016, Atlético Mineiro club president Daniel Nepomuceno announced on his Twitter account that the club had signed Fred.

The player agreed to a two-year deal with the club, according to its press representatives.

Fred made his Atlético debut on 12 June 2016 in the Clássico Mineiro against rivals Cruzeiro.

He scored and celebrated against his former club in a 2–3 defeat at the Estádio Independência.

Fred was the top goalscorer of the 2016 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, along with two other players, with 14 goals.

He achieved the feat for the third time in his career, which is a record (also shared, with Romário, Túlio Maravilha and Dadá Maravilha).

On 23 December 2017, Fred and Atlético agreed on the termination of his contract and on the same day it was announced his return to Cruzeiro, 12 years after originally leaving.

After returning to Cruzeiro in 2018 and Fluminense in 2020, Fred retired from the professional game in July 2022.

Fred is the second-highest goalscorer in the history of Fluminense, with 199 goals across all competitions, as well as the all-time second-highest goalscorer of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, with 158.

He also scored one of the fastest goals in professional football history while playing for América Mineiro, against Vila Nova during a Copa São Paulo de Juniores match.

The goal was scored 3.17 seconds after the match started.