Selling unique Casemiro will cost Ten Hag his job

Robin Bairner

• 15 Dec 2023 11:26 GMT
• 13 min read

Manchester United midfielder Casemiro has been linked with a January transfer to PSG or the Saudi Pro League, but while the Brazil international has failed to hit the heights he mustered last season, he is a player the Old Trafford side can ill-afford to do without.

Erik ten Hag’s side may sit sixth in the Premier League standings, but that is a flattering position given they have lost seven of their 16 games and have often struggled to put away weaker opponents. Late goals were needed to beat Brentford, Fulham and Luton. Without these, their situation would be far worse.

Those in defence of Ten Hag have pointed to the long injury list that United face, but there is little doubt that the absence of Casemiro weighs more heavily than their other issues.

Last season, he was one of the top performing central midfielders in the whole of the Premier League. Data analytics experts SciSports placed him fourth behind only Rodri, Martin Odegaard and Joe Willock.

Having played only 649 Premier League minutes this season, it’s harder to get a feel for his performance level, yet he is still comfortably in the top third of players in his position, with only the in-form Scott McTominay putting up better numbers among his teammates.

While Casemiro is in a difficult patch, it’s fair to say that McTominay is in something of a golden period for both club and country. As the cliché goes, form is temporary, class is permanent.

Casemiro vs Premier League midfielders: 2022/23

Casemiro has something no other Man Utd player has

One of the reasons that the former Real Madrid player was brought to the club in 2022 was his winning mentality and determination – two qualities that have often been sorely lacking from Man Utd’s play this season. Would he have stood for the Newcastle embarrassment if he was on the field? You better believe not.

While captain Bruno Fernandes’ attitude can be flaky at best, Casemiro is unrelenting. He more than anyone in the squad is a winner. Even when not playing his best football, this is a precious attribute.

Without it, Man Utd face a trophyless season - and perhaps worse - the very real prospect of missing out on the Champions League once more. If that happens, Ten Hag is gone.

Sure, it seems unlikely he’ll stick around until the end of his contract, which expires in 2026, with incoming minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe apparently a sceptic of the player, but Man Utd are a club desperately in need of short-term solutions that can fire them forwards in the second half of the season.

While Ten Hag scrambles around looking for a forward or winger who can finally provide the attacking punch they have been so desperately short of, an injection of Casemiro’s aggression in the midfield can only help at both ends of the field. He cannot be allowed to leave.