Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s plans for Manchester United to move on from Casemiro have hit a stumbling block due to the staggering amount of money he would be owed as part of a pay-off, a report has explained.
Casemiro looked almost certain to have played his last game for Man Utd already heading into the summer transfer window. New co-owner Ratcliffe always believed the club could have done better business than invest in a player of his age.
Therefore, it’s long been assumed that Man Utd would try to offload Casemiro this summer, especially after his form took a turn for the worse last season. A move to somewhere in Saudi Arabia has appeared to be the likeliest outcome.
However, Casemiro still has two years remaining on his contract in Manchester.
It’s claimed that it could cost up to £25m to pay off Casemiro to leave. Furthermore, United don’t want to release him without receiving a transfer fee.
Therefore, their only hope of selling Casemiro is that someone will come in with an offer near their £30m asking price. But even clubs in Saudi Arabia haven’t come close to that valuation yet.
Ten Hag to meet Casemiro reps next week
The prospect of Casemiro continuing into a third season with Man Utd has therefore increased. But first of all, his representatives want to speak with manager Erik ten Hag.
After the Dutchman was also granted the opportunity to enter a third season with the club, following their failure to convince any of their other managerial targets but also their FA Cup success, Casemiro’s entourage have pencilled in talks with Ten Hag next week.
They want to find out how heavily Ten Hag plans to use the 32-year-old next season, which in theory could determine how hard they push to orchestrate an exit.
It’s believed that Man Utd are ready to phase Casemiro out, judging by their plans to pursue the signing of Manuel Ugarte from Paris Saint-Germain.
Ugarte also plays as a defensive midfielder and made more tackles than any other player in Ligue 1 last season after joining PSG from Sporting CP.
If Man Utd can sign Ugarte, or any other holding midfielder, it’s likely Casemiro would drop down their pecking order. But it doesn’t necessarily mean his spell with the club is over if they can’t agree a severance fee.
Since joining them from Real Madrid in 2022, Casemiro has made 83 appearances for Man Utd, scoring 12 goals. He performed well in his debut season, but less so in his second, which he missed a portion of due to injury.
