Manchester United face a huge task to replace Casemiro in the upcoming summer, and their biggest regret is shaping the chase.
The farewell tour has seen Casemiro turn back the clock at Man Utd this season, putting in brilliant performances to guide the club into UCL qualification places.
It has only made the Man Utd fans even more worried about how they will go about replacing him.
One thing is for sure, which is that United’s chase for his replacement will be dictated by their biggest regret with him.
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He is upset there is no resale value and he will leave for free
Man Utd’s biggest regret with Casemiro
Casemiro will leave United after completing four years at the club, and it can be argued that he’s had a success rate of about 60%.
His first season was world-class, and this season has been a great redemption, but it was hit-and-miss with some really bad misses during the two seasons in between.
Combine that with his age, high wages, and no resale value, and it’s hard to argue, despite all the romanticism, that it’s a signing United should have made at the time.
Having said that, their biggest regret isn’t signing Casemiro, it’s signing Casemiro far later than they should have.
He joined when he turned 30, and he already had immense mileage in his legs, having guided Real Madrid to multiple UCL titles.
It is a testament to Casemiro’s fitness and professionalism that he has maintained his levels at United for so long, because nobody could blame him for phoning it in when things get tough at Carrington.
Casemiro was the best in the world at what he did when he was young, so the challenge for United is not to sign another Casemiro, but to sign a version of Casemiro who played for Real Madrid.
The age will dictate United’s chase for his replacement because their biggest regret is not signing him when he was younger.
Bryan Robson shares Casemiro regret
Man Utd legend Bryan Robson knows a thing or two about standards at United, and he shared a similar regret about Casemiro.
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Speaking on The Talk of the Devils podcast, Robson said that Casemiro would be one of the world’s best had he not lost his yard of pace.
Robson is correct, since Casemiro literally was one of the world’s best when he was younger.
He said: “I think he’s a class player. For me, he needs legs around, and that’s the only sort of downfall for Casemiro. Yeah. If he had more pace, he would have been one of the best players in the world because of all the other attributes I’ve talked about.”
As Robson said, United are effectively looking for a Casemiro, but younger, because that player was genuinely one of the world’s best.
It’s easier said than done, but it’s a position United absolutely can’t afford to take any shortcuts with.
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