If reports are to be believed, Sir Jim Ratcliffe singled out on recent Manchester United signing as an example of the flawed, short-term approach to recruitment that held the Premier League back throughout the Glazer era.
And Casemiro’s latest masterclass in madness – UnitedinFocus rated him 1/10 after that 4-0 hammering at Crystal Palace – will not have Manchester United‘s new honcho rushing to apologise.
Ratcliffe had a point, even before Casemiro’s staggering decline set in. Spending £70 million on a 30-year-old player – while handing him a four-year contract – was a decision that always looked likely to backfire somewhere down the line, even his the Brazilian’s drop-off has come around a lot earlier than anyone would have imagined.
Casemiro, the Saudi Pro League or the Turkish Super Lig beckoning, looks destined to become one of the first victims of Ineos’ brutal summer cull, alongside his former Real Madrid team-mate Raphael Varane.
Manchester United’s transfers come back to bite
While one of the finest players in his position in the modern era – like the five-time Champions League winning midfielder – the warning signs were there already even before Man United stumped up £42 million for Varane back in 2021.
The World Cup winner had his fair share of injury issues in Madrid, and those have only increased as he enters ‘veteran’ status. In his three seasons for Man United, Varane has only managed more than 20 Premier League starts once.
“This is the thing that really bothers me, OK. If you had said to me before the transfer happened, Raphael Varane, too many injuries,” former Celtic, Chelsea and Aston Villa striker Tony Cascarino tells talkSPORT.
“If you look at his record as a player at Real Madrid, he averaged just over 20 games per season in La Liga. So, that in itself is a problem.
“You are paying him a fortune. You have to give him a four-year deal. You have to pay him a big signing-on fee. Casemiro, likewise. The fee plus the huge wages. A guy that is 30, 31 when you buy him.
“If you are going to buy players from Real Madrid, they are not as good as they once were.”
Casemiro and Raphael Varane need to leave
Casemiro and Varane are reportedly Man United’s two highest earners on £350,000 and £340,000-a-week respectively. If anything sums up the ridiculous, Galactico-tribute act of the pre-Ineos regime, it’s this.
Fortunately, with Casemiro set to go and Varane out of contract, Ineos can immediately free up millions of spare cash by getting two declining, staggeringly well-paid players off the books.
A number of young, up-and-coming talents have been identified as potential replacements as Man United prepare to find themselves dragged kicking and screaming into the modern era, with Jarrad Branthwaite allegedly the number one target at centre-half.
- READ MORE: Manchester United Player Wages 2023/24
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
