Casemiro STOPS Man Utd signing Euro 2024 star

Carlo Garganese

31 Jul 2024 15:00 BST
4 min read

Casemiro is stopping Manchester United from bringing in a new central midfielder.

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According to TemTalk, United are unable to strengthen in the middle of the park until they have offloaded the Brazilian.

Man Utd are in the market for a new central midfielder and have been in talks to sign long-term target Adrien Rabiot on a free transfer.

Rabiot is a free agent after his contract at Juventus expired.

But Man Utd can’t complete a deal for Rabiot - who will demand a big salary of more than €7 million a year - until they have sold Casemiro.

United need to cut their wage bill and raise revenue through sales in order to comply with the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules.

The 32-year-old is transfer listed and is open to leaving Man Utd for the right sporting and financial offer.

However, it appears as if he is not willing to take a drastic pay cut as he is Man Utd’s highest paid player on £18.2m per year.

There is strong interest from Saudi Arabia for Casemiro, according to TeamTalk, with Casemiro’s agent meeting Al Nassr, Al Hilal, Al Ahli and Al Qadisiya officials in recent weeks.

Only Al Ahli and Al Qadisiya asked for additional information but TeamTalk report that no one has put in a concrete offer so far.

This is a problem for United as they can’t advance further with Rabiot until they have sold Casemiro.

United want around €30-35m for Casemiro.

Casemiro to leave Man Utd this summer?

Casemiro was arguably Man Utd’s signature move of the summer of 2022, as they splashed out over €70m for the legendary midfielder from Real Madrid.

Some critics questioned paying such a large sum of money for a player who was already 30.

The 32-year-old performed well for much of his first season and he played a key role in them winning the Carabao Cup.

However, his form fell off badly in the 2023-24 campaign for a Man Utd team that endured a disastrous Premier League and Champions League season.

© IMAGO - Casemiro is for sale at Man Utd

United finished in eighth place, out of the European places and with a negative goal difference. They also were knocked out of the Champions League group stages, finishing bottom of a group containing Bayern Munich, Copenhagen and Galatasaray, and conceding more goals than any English team in a group campaign ever.

They did win the FA Cup, but Casemiro did not play in the final.

Physically, Casemiro looked like a player who is well past his best and who is no longer able to cope with the rigours of fast-paced football.

He also struggled with injury over the course of the past season.

He was heavily linked with a transfer away from the club in January, with Saudi Arabian teams interested in him.

In the end, Casemiro stayed until the end of the campaign and he made little impact in the second half of the campaign as he missed the FA Cup final win over Man City.