Man Utd choose €100m Casemiro replacement

Carlo Garganese

Updated: 4 Jun 2024 07:47 BST
3 min read

Manchester United have identified Barcelona star Frenkie de Jong as the player to replace Casemiro this summer.

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According to Sport, Man Utd have made De Jong’s their primary target to succeed Casemiro, who is up for sale this coming transfer window.

United’s interest in De Jong is long standing, with current manager Erik ten Hag a huge fan of the player.

United made De Jong their primary transfer target in the summer of 2022 and spent much of the window trying to convince him to join.

However, De Jong refused continuously and he ended up staying put at Camp Nou.

© ProShots - De Jong was wanted by Man Utd in 2022

Even if Ten Hag, who worked together with De Jong at Ajax, is sacked this summer, Sport says that United still want to sign the midfielder.

De Jong and Man Utd from 2022

Barcelona are understood to have accepted an €85 million bid from Man Utd in July 2022, and made it clear that they wanted him to move to Old Trafford.

But De Jong refused to join Man Utd and stayed at Barcelona, despite interest from Chelsea and Bayern Munich as well.

United are now returning for the player, who has established himself as one of the best central midfielders in the world since joining Barcelona from Ajax in 2019.

The 27-year-old is valued by Barcelona at €100m, and the Blaugrana would consider a sale for a massive fee as they have well-publicised financial problems.

Man Utd have put Casemiro up for sale this summer, with clubs in Saudi Arabia interested in signing the Brazilian.

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.

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.