Casemiro is set to leave Manchester United in June when his contract expires, ending a lucrative four-year stay for the Brazilian.
The four seasons of Casemiro have been up and down, yet he looks set to bow out from Old Trafford on top.
It was last month that Casemiro announced he will leave Manchester United after this season, in a move many expected, but his status as a cult hero will see him missed.
United paid Real Madrid £60m for Casemiro in 2022, but the decision to sign him on a whim has cost the club well over double this amount.
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Why Casemiro cost Manchester United so much money
While signing Brazil captain was undoubtedly a bad ‘business’ call from Richard Arnold and John Murtough, Casemiro has been a roaring success for United on the pitch.
He wasn’t always, but Casemiro bounced back from being written off, making his critics take back their harsh words. But the cost of signing the Brazilian will long be remembered.
Not only did United spend big, but it also handed Casemiro a contract which few players could command. This added to his transfer fee means United spent well over £60m on him, as finance expert Kieran Maguire explained to United in Focus.
“There is so much focus on the two elements, i.e., transfer fees and wages, independent of each other, that nobody actually does the sums.
“That is why Bosman signings are so popular. When Ibrahimovic came to United, he was on a similar salary, but they saved money on the transfer.
“It’s actually rare for a player to get both a high transfer fee and a big wage. There usually has to be a degree of compromise from one side.
“The sum that Man United does is: what goes into the PSR calculation? That is the amortised transfer fee plus employment costs. In the final analysis, it’s coming up to £150m.”
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Casemiro is irreplaceable even for this massive financial outlay
Casemiro’s exit has some positives to take, but also some negatives.
The main negative is that the current version of Casemiro is practically impossible to replace for United right now, even if the club planned to spend as much as they did on the Brazilian.
Elliot Anderson is the closest to replacing Casemiro, but even then, United will lose because the Brazil international’s ability to score clutch goals will not be replaced.
Casemiro is hard to replace because of not only his on-field ability. But also for his leadership and character, which are two things United cannot replace, even with another £350,000-a-week player.
So to some, Casemiro was worth every penny as he helped United weather the Ruben Amorim storm.
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