Manchester United’s attempts to sign Adrien Rabiot from Juventus this summer is ‘almost certainly off’ because of the wage demands of the player. This has led to United looking elsewhere to sign a midfielder with Erik ten Hag reportedly looking for two this summer.
One player that has emerged if Real Madrid’s Casemiro. United will have work to do in order to sign the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Super Cup winner with the 30-year-old in contract at the Spanish club until the summer of 2025.
The Guardian has reported that it is as yet unknown as to whether United could convince the Brazilian to sign for the Old Trafford club this summer, who will be playing in the UEFA Europa League, not the Champions League that he will be used to.
It has been reported that United sent a delegation to Madrid on Tuesday, which could be for a number of things. Casemiro could be part of that although it is also suggested that the executives from the Old Trafford club could have met with Atletico Madrid.
Casemiro started out at São Paulo before being sold to Real Madrid in 2013 where he featured for Real Madrid B and was also loaned to FC Porto before becoming a mainstay in the Real Madrid squad. He can operate as a defensive midfielder, central midfielder or centre-back.
Since making his debut at the Madrid club, Casemiro has made 336 appearances for the club, scoring 31 goals and 29 assists. He is not really there to score goal but has a few stunners to his name in him time at the club. This could be an exciting option for United.
However, with the player already reaching 30, he would be considered as a short-term option for United and the speculated £50 million move would not offer any resale value for United. But having chased Frenkie de Jong all summer with no movement, United do not have time to waste.
Ideally, the club would want to have players through the door before they face Liverpool on Monday evening at Old Trafford, but time is running out to get that done. It would seem that the clash with Southampton on the 27 August or Leicester City on deadline day would be more likely.
That said, you never know with United, the could surprise everyone and get something sorted! Yeah, I don’t believe that either. This summer has been a joke. More of the same from different executives suggests that someone else is running the show in the background.
Written by John Walker
