Multiple reports on Thursday suggest that Manchester United are closing in on the signing of Brazilian midfielder Casemiro from Real Madrid. The Red Devils have reportedly made a bid of €60 million, potentially rising to €70 million for the 30-year-old, which the Spanish giants are tempted to accept.
Manchester United will send official bid for Casemiro tonight in order to close the deal on Friday. €60m fee, €10m add-ons – so Real Madrid are expected to accept in the next hours. 🚨🔴🇧🇷 #MUFC
Man Utd offering contract valid until June 2026 plus option for further season. pic.twitter.com/E6kKvKK1Q3
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 18, 2022
The English club also plan on making Casemiro one of the highest-earners in their squad which consists of his former Madrid teammates Cristiano Ronaldo and Raphael Varane.
Acquiring Casemiro will end Manchester United’s all-summer-long hunt for a central midfield player. New manager Erik Ten Hag has used the age-old pairing of Fred and Scott McTominay in the opening game of the season – a 1-2 home defeat to Brighton – and even played new signing Christian Eriksen in the position in their 0-4 defeat away at Brentford.
The Brazilian is one of the most decorated players in the world at the moment. He was a crucial part of Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid team that won three Champions League in a row. He has won five European titles in total, as well as three La Liga trophies in the Spanish capital.
Casemiro was long considered one of the most dependable defensive midfielders in Europe, slotting into the position alongside Luka Modric and Toni Kroos to make up a dominant midfield. With the trio on the wrong side of 30, and Madrid’s recent big-money acquisitions of Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchoumeni, United’s offer may be too good to turn down.
United have been linked to several midfield players this year, and most recently were reported to see a pursuit of Juventus’ Adrien Rabiot end due to disagreement over his contract. The club have also been heavily linked to Dutchman Frenkie de Jong, who has been embroiled in a battle with Barcelona over 17 million in deferred wages that the club still owe him.
Xavi on Frenkie de Jong: “I consider Frenkie important for me, he’s in the squad and that’s it. Until August 31st, we’ll see because the market is still open”. ⚠️🇳🇱 #FCB
“We don’t know what’s going to happen with many players until the end of the window”. pic.twitter.com/BEWjU0KIBS
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 12, 2022
Subscriber Only Stories
De Jong saw huge success under Ten Hag at Ajax and was a pivotal part of the 18/19 team that narrowly missed out on the Champions League final. But talks between United and Barcelona seemed to have broken down with the Blaugrana unable to offload him without finding a solution for the wages they owe.
