Casemiro could very well be leaving Manchester United in January.
The Brazilian midfielder was one of Erik ten Hag‘s star performers last season, but during this campaign – he couldn’t look further from it.
90min has reported Casemiro is ‘ready to leave Manchester United in January’, which means Ten Hag needs to replace him.
Several replacements could fill the void left by the veteran, but we think none would suit more to Manchester United than Joao Palhinha.
Joao Palhinha has bossed the Premier League so far
Palhinha is one of the Premier League‘s finest holding midfielders.
The Portuguese enforcer arrived at Fulham from Sporting Lisbon at the beginning of last season and completely transformed their midfield.
He quickly established himself as one of the top names at Craven Cottage – which meant the rest of the Premier League, and Europe firmly took notes.
In the summer, it looked destined that he was off to Bayern Munich, with photos even being taken of him in a Bayern jersey before a proposed move. However, the deal fell through and he remained at Fulham.
But he didn’t sulk, and he’s picked up where he left off in the Premier League this season, further establishing himself as one of the finest sixes in the English top flight.
Palhinha a perfect Casemiro replacement
This is reflected in his stats, including one notable one this season which sees him firmly top as the league’s best.
Premier League Tackles Per Game
- Joao Palhinha: 5.4 tackles
- Vitaliy Mykolenko: 3.6 tackles
- Yves Bissouma: 3.3 tackles
- Vinicius Souza: 3.3 tackles
- Nicolas Dominguez: 3.1 tackles
Sourced from Sofa Score.
Palhinha is leaps and bounds ahead of the rest. This also shows why he is a top Casemiro replacement.
Casmeiro’s tough tackling attitude was a huge catalyst to Manchester United’s midfield successes last season.
Sadly, he appears to have lost that yard or two of pace to obtain his usual positions, however, Palhinha certainly hasn’t.
United would be getting the finished, Premier League-proven article with the Fulham man. We think he’d be ideal for the first-team squad.
Manchester United already interested, they must keep pursuing
Manchester United have already spoken to the representatives of the Fulham midfielder ahead of the January transfer window – but must keep pursuing.
Bayern Munich will certainly still want to do a deal with Fulham for his signature, so Erik ten Hag will have to be hot on it if he does want to bring Palhinha to Old Trafford.
If Casemiro does go, Palhinha would be an ideal fit to replace him. It is just a case of whether he’d want to join.
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