Fans were still singing along to toast the success of Casemiro as they filtered out of Old Trafford on Sunday night, many eager to see the Brazilian make a u-turn to stick around these parts for a while longer.
‘One more year, one more year, Casemiro,’ sang the Stretford End, both after he made it 1-0 with a brilliant header from Bruno Fernandes‘ corner, and then again at the final whistle.
It was late January, coming up to two months ago, when it was confirmed by United that Casemiro will leave at the conclusion of this current season.
That was a club decision, not a player one, not to trigger a one-year extension.
His salary, coming in at at around £375,000 a week, was a sore subject for minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately bristled whenever details of that move to sign him in 2022 from Real Madrid came up. With the wage bill being drastically driven down, Casemiro was always a target for the exodus from those upstairs.
If Casemiro had his way perhaps this latest renaissance would be a bright sign of things to come, rather than feeling like a glorified farewell tour that still has eight dates left before the curtain finally comes down.
Casemiro grabbed and pointed to the United badge as fans serenaded him on Sunday night
His seventh goal of the season, his best ever single-season tally, helped United to a key win
Asked afterwards if replacing Casemiro this summer is showing itself to be an increasingly tricky task, United boss Michael Carrick was surprisingly dismissive of the pessimists in the room.
‘I think this is totally no disrespect to Case, he’s been fantastic, he has been a big player for us and has been important in the dressing room and one that I have spoken to and connected with really well,’ Carrick explained.
‘But I think as a club and as a team, your players come and go, some may be bigger, some may be more important than others at different times.
‘I don’t think it’s ever really about replacing them like for like. I think you can go with different directions, you understand what the balance of the squad will need, whether that’s on the pitch, off the pitch, leadership, positionally, there’s all sorts of different things going into it.’
Carrick not being as concerned as some supporters is not too surprising. He rarely gets swept up emotionally on any topic and is very measured in what he says.
He also doesn’t know yet whether it will actually be his problem to solve given he too has a contract that is set for expiry in eight games time.
But dismissing the idea that replacing Casemiro won’t be a mightily difficult task this summer is foolhardy.
What you are searching for is an orthodox No 6, defensive midfielder that is also a league-leading goal threat who can set the standards for everyone else to follow day in, day out in the gym and in training.
That’s what Casemiro gives United and that is not what will be available on the market this summer.
| Player Name | Total set piece goals |
|---|---|
| Casemiro (Man United) | 6 |
| Callum Wilson (West Ham) | 4 |
| Micky van de Ven (Tottenham Hotspur) | 4 |
| Malik Thiaw (Newcastle United) | 4 |
| Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool) | 4 |
| Junior Kroupi (AFC Bournemouth) | 4 |
Newcastle United
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Sunderland
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Fans in the Stretford End chanted for the Brazilian to stay at the club for ‘one more year’
Michael Carrick was relaxed about the idea that replacing Casemiro will be mightily difficult
His header here was his seventh league goal this season, his best ever return in a single campaign in Europe’s big-five leagues, surpassing the six goals he scored for Real Madrid back in 2020-21.
Add to that that the header represented the sixth set piece goal scored by Casemiro this season, two clear of any other Premier League player.
Then there are the intangibles, the mentoring he has provided to players such as Matheus Cunha and young full-back Diego Leon, the standards he sets that others are eager to follow, how he works before he even turns up each day for training at Carrington.
A routine that so often looks like:
- Gym before training
- Train with team-mates at Carrington
- After training, work out back at his home gym
- Physiotherapy treatment
- Use of hyperbaric chambers during his rest periods
- Early bed-time
- A self-imposed sugar ban
- Fish-centric diet to maximise performance
‘I’d prefer he didn’t go,’ captain Bruno Fernandes told DAZN in the tunnel afterwards. From multiple players Daily Mail Sport has spoken to since news of Casemiro’s exit was confirmed, the feeling is mutual in the dressing room.
But Daily Mail Sport understands talk of a u-turn is more emotional than anything else. His exit was a club call and not one anyone at United expects to be reneged on despite this final flourish to the captain, with MLS seen as an eventual landing spot for the Brazilian.
Central midfielders are the top priority for United having put all their eggs in one basket to fix their attack last summer.
Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson is top of the list, while Carlos Baleba, Tyler Adams, Adam Wharton, Joao Gomes, Sandro Tonali and Felix Nmecha are all names discussed internally.
All of those are younger and faster than this current version of Casemiro, no doubt.
Anderson will be one of the most in demand players this summer with Bayern Munich understood to be stepping up their interest in the England international. Tonali, another, who will command a big market and even bigger money.
But none of them provide the goal threat or the leadership that a player like Casemiro does. And there is also no guarantee they land their top targets when midfield needs at least two, if not three, reinforcements ahead of a return to the Champions League.
Carrick may well shrug his shoulders at growing concerns emerging that a Casemiro exit is a bad thing, but it will dawn on many at United soon enough – if it hasn’t already – just what a big job they have on their hands this summer.
Would one more year really have been such a bad thing? With every passing week it’s starting to feel like the answer has become clearer and clearer.