The Red Devils finally signed a player to a troubled position
Manchester United started the new league season with defeats to Brighton and Brentford, and for the first time since the 1992/93 season started so badly. It is interesting that Alex Ferguson’s side won the English Premier League that season, but it is unlikely that this circumstance inspires the current generation of the club’s fans. The quality of the game shown by the Red Devils in the first two matches was criticized by absolutely everyone and sundry and the current last place in the standings is a fair result for the team from Old Trafford. And a future game against Liverpool at home could make Manchester United’s situation even more deplorable.
Not surprisingly, after such a terrible start to the season, Manchester United has stepped up work in the transfer market and intends to make several acquisitions before the window closes. The key problem of Eric ten Hag’s team is the center of the field, which, after the departure of Paul Pogba, definitely needed to be strengthened. After unsuccessful negotiations for Frankie De Jong from Barcelona and Adrian Rabiot from Juventus, the Red Devils turned their attention to Real Madrid defender Casemiro and quickly managed to negotiate both with the Madrid club and with the footballer himself.
We are delighted to have reached an agreement in principle for the transfer of @Casemiro 🇧🇷#MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 19, 2022
Brazilian transfer cost Manchester United 60 million pounds, Real Madrid can receive another 10 million as bonuses, and Casemiro himself will sign a very lucrative four-year contract with the possibility of extending for another season. It seems that all parties should be happy with such a deal, but so far it looks like only the management of the Madrid club will benefit from this transfer.
There is no doubt that the acquisition Casemiro is a great option to bolster Manchester United’s troubled midfield. The Red Devils have managed to invite a player with a big name, who has a huge number of matches at the highest level, five victories in the Champions League and many won titles and awards. Playing for Real Madrid taught the Brazilian to great success and instilled the mentality of a winner, which is so lacking in many footballers of the current Manchester United squad. And his experience and class will almost certainly bring order to the chaos in the team’s midfield that was going on in the first matches of the season.
At Real Madrid, Casemiro was a key player for both Zinedine Zidane and Carlo Ancelotti. His trio, along with Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, can be safely called the foundation of the success of the Madrid club in recent years, without which there would definitely have been no victories in the Spanish championship and the Champions League. Of course, in terms of image, his loss should not be as painful for Blancos as the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo or Sergio Ramos at one time, but in terms of game, Real Madrid lost an important player of the main team, who performed his functions perfectly on the football field.
But still, Real Madrid’s decision to sell the Brazilian looks quite logical, because the management of the Madrid club is well aware that sooner or later their star trio in the center of the field will have to be replaced with new players and the best option is a gradual renewal of the squad. Do not forget that Casemiro is far from being young, and to receive such a generous financial offer for a 30-year-old player is also a great success, and it is unlikely that it will be possible to sell the Brazilian so profitably in the future.
For Casemiro himself, moving to Old Trafford is a big challenge and a great motivation, because he exchanged comfortable conditions in one of the biggest clubs in the world for a team that has been steadily starting something grand over the past few years, each time announcing the beginning of a new era , is trying to regain its former glory, but in the end is left with nothing but huge problems both inside the club and in the dressing room and on the field. Therefore, the Brazilian’s decision to move to such a Manchester United, of course, raises questions: for now, the English club can only offer Casemiro an excellent long-term contract and the opportunity to play in the strongest league in the world.
It is also important to understand that before the opening of the summer transfer window, the Brazilian midfielder was not included in the plans of Manchester United and personally ten Hag as even a possible addition to the squad. All the efforts of the Red Devils were thrown into the acquisition of de Jong and Manchester United, traditionally in recent years, wasted a lot of time trying to get the Barcelona midfielder. After the failure with the Dutchman, the club switched to Rabiot and quickly agreed with Juventus, but refused the Frenchman’s services after hearing his mother’s demands on the contract. Therefore, ten Hag will be forced to start the promised grandiose restructuring with completely different new players than he planned at the beginning of the summer. And the transfer of Casemiro looks like a banal panic and a desire to get someone, no matter how much money such a transfer costs.
If we talk about the football component, then Casemiro will immediately become a player in the starting lineup of Manchester United. The Brazilian will need time to adapt to a new country and a new championship, but his experience should help speed up this process as much as possible. In addition, the midfielder managed to play in Real Madrid’s opening matches in the new season and is in good condition. Casemiro should fit perfectly into ten Hag’s midfield formation, but his ability to play at the same level as he did at Real Madrid is still a big question mark. It’s one thing to face frankly weaker opponents in La Liga with Modric and Kroos, it’s another thing to play with Fred or Scott McTominay in the Premier League, where the intensity of matches and the level of teams is much higher.
Right here and now, Casemiro’s move to Manchester United looks like a great move and in the short term it really should work. The club has strengthened the center of the field with a world-class footballer, who should become a key link in the ten Haga team, linking defense and attack. To put it quite simply, the Red Devils have signed a top player whose task will be to add class and solidity to this squad. On the other hand, Casemiro is unlikely to progress at Old Trafford, he is now at the peak of his playing career and it is not clear how long he can remain at this high level. And building a new team with older players is a rather complicated and dubious undertaking.
Before the transfer window closes, Manchester United must sign a few more players. The quality and level of the players of the current Red Devils squad leaves much to be desired and will not allow the team to compete for high places this season. It is already clear that Eric ten Hag’s first season as Manchester United manager will be incredibly difficult, but without new transfers, it will be even more difficult. The Dutch manager definitely expected to start his journey differently, with the players he needed before the first official match of the season, but faced the same problems as his predecessors.
The inability of the club’s management to sign the players needed by the coach on time and quickly deprives the team of the opportunity to be competitive in the English championship not for the first time. It is possible that big changes will take place at Old Trafford in the near future, up to a change of ownership, as the level of fan support for the Glazer family is steadily moving to zero every year, and the number of protests is only increasing. Against the background of terrible results and not the best atmosphere inside the club, Casemiro’s transfer seems to be a ray of hope for Manchester United fans, allowing them to believe in positive changes soon.
Source: Sportarena
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
