Former Real Madrid star Casemiro has told Rio Ferdinand what he deeply admires about playing alongside Bruno Fernandes in his final season at Manchester United.
Casemiro is in the tail end of his Manchester United playing spell ahead of his contract with the Premier League club expiring at the end of June.
The 34-year-old Brazilian defensive midfielder has enjoyed a career resurgence at Old Trafford after rediscovering his best form in the 2025-26 campaign.
Casemiro’s improvement at the Red Devils has coincided with his effective partnership with Bruno Fernandes under interim head coach Michael Carrick.
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Casemiro explains the importance of the key element from Bruno Fernandes playing as Man Utd’s No 10
Casemiro has netted five times in the last 15 Premier League matches since Manchester United legend Michael Carrick took his seat in the dugout.
The five-time Champions League winner has been a key aerial threat thanks to his superb heading, with Casemiro benefiting from Bruno Fernandes’ influence.
Fernandes has seen a dramatic turnaround in form in the second half of the 2025-26 campaign after Ruben Amorim was sacked as Man Utd manager in January.
Carrick has been playing the 31-year-old United captain as a No 10 and Casemiro admitted that he loves that Fernandes is always looking to play the ball forward.
Speaking on Rio Ferdinand Presents, Casemiro explained: “Yeah, negative pass. You need to play forward. Doesn’t matter if you lose the ball.
“But, of course, sometimes you need to play good. But for me, what I like, I love Bruno.
“What I love [about] Bruno [is that] Bruno play forward every time. Every time he kill the opposite team. He kill [them] every time, he kill. Every time is kill, I kill.”
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Casemiro on the impact of Bruno Fernandes’ Man Utd playmaking ability under Michael Carrick at Old Trafford
Fernandes has registered an impressive 19 Premier League assists from 33 matches for Man Utd in the 2025-26 campaign at Old Trafford so far.
The Red Devils skipper has two Premier League matches left to either equal or break the all-time assist record (set at 20) for a single season.
Casemiro has explained that Fernandes’ confidence to risk playing a forward pass rather than sideways or backwards has made him so impactful for Man Utd.
“You give me space, I give,” he continued.
“I kill you, I kill you, I kill. I love this because sometimes you lose two [or] three balls, but you look in the front all of the time.
“For me, I love Bruno. I love the game [that] Bruno [plays] because every time [it is] assist, pass, pass, pass, pass forward, pass forward.”
Man Utd confirmed back in January that the Premier League club would not trigger the 12-month extension in Casemiro’s current contract at Old Trafford.
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