Manchester United’s January transfer window is yet to kick into proper gear, with multiple dominos holding up the movement before it kickstarts.
Marcus Rashford’s potential move is the biggest one, with his wages north of £300k/week aiding United to go big for a replacement if/when he moves.
In a similar boat is Casemiro who also earns a similar amount but who finds himself in a more difficult situation due to his age and playing profile.
Unlike Rashford, Casemiro is no longer in the prime years and his public profile is not as big as Rashford’s has gotten due to his playing position and off-field actions.
Saudi Pro League had emerged as the most likely destination for the Brazilian and Al-Nassr have now dropped an official statement on the reports linking him to them.
Al Nassr’s statement on Casemiro interest
The pieces fit themselves into position when it came to Al Nassr’s interest in Casemiro. For starters, the Saudi Pro League has become the go-to destination for big names who are no longer in their peak years.
Furthermore, Cristiano Ronaldo rates Casemiro highly enough to force Al Nassr’s hand into buying him, thereby benefitting United.
Therefore, it was no surprise when it was recently reported that Casemiro was close to joining Al Nassr and in the process, Sir Jim Ratcliffe would rectify a mistake he identified long ago.
However, amidst all this, one party’s input was missing, and that was Al Nassr themselves, who have now set the record straight as the rumour picked up the pace.
Saeed Abu Dahish, the media advisor at Al Nassr and supervisor in charge of public relations, communications and Nassr TV channel, has given an official statement.
It read: “All the news circulating about Al-Nassr’s negotiations with the player Casemiro is incorrect. The coming period will be full of names of players (foreign or local) who will be linked to Al-Nasr, as we are used to.
“You will find the official news through Al-Nasr’s official account, but other than that, it is just news and efforts that we will not be able to be busy denying daily.
“The team has important matches coming up, and your stars need your support.”
Casemiro’s Al Nassr move dead in the water?
It remains to be seen how much can be read into Al Nassr’s denial because as they say themselves, they’re linked to many players daily.
For them to drop an official denial of being in negotiations for Casemiro just adds fuel to the fire that was developing in this story.
Most importantly, they deny that they are in negotiations but don’t say definitively that there’s no interest. Instead, they stress that official news should be awaited via club channels.
It comes after the story picked up pace and Casemiro’s move was almost regarded as imminent, with United focusing on his replacement from South America.
Therefore, it would be wise to take this statement with a pinch of salt because it’s not a complete denial, just an effort to control the narrative that was quickly spiralling toward completion.
It will be a surprise if Casemiro ends January still in United colours and an equally big surprise if those colours are not Al Nassr’s.
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