Hallelujah, Manchester United finally have signed a midfielder. Former Real Madrid midfielder, Casemiro, has agreed terms with the club and is coming to Manchester on a five-year deal.
I can’t even begin to describe how many United teams have been crying out for a world class defensive midfielder since the days of Sir Alex Fergeson final season, which was the 2012/13 season (yes, for nearly 10 years!). What’s even more strange is why it has taken United’s hierarchy and board this long to sign just one defensive midfielder.
I guess you could claim that they did bring in a defensive midfielder when they signed Morgan Schneiderlin (throwback, I know) for Louis van Gaal, but the faster you forget about him the better.
How long did he actually last? A year, not even? I just remember Jose Mourinho shipping him off to Everton as soon as he laid eyes on the French midfielder.
Anyway, back to Casemiro, this is a great signing. He’s bringing a 5X Champions League winner, 3X La Liga winner, 3X Supercopa Winner, 1X Copa Del Rey Winner, 3X Super Cup Winner, and a 3X FIFA Club World Cup Winner mentality into a side that (aside from Ronaldo, Eriksen, Martinez, Varane, and de Gea), hasn’t won a domestic league title between any of the players.
That’s how drastic the gulf of class Casemiro is compared to the current United starting midfield line-up.
Obviously, he’s going to walk right into the first team as his only other competition is Scott Mctominay and Fred. Yeah, he could still walk into this team even if he only had one leg.
With Casemiro standing in front of Raphael Varane, Harry Maguire, and Lisandro Martinez in the middle of the field, United’s defense has just gotten a whole lot better.
I mean it really doesn’t take a whole lot to get better when the club’s first defensive midfield option, Fred, was bound to give away at least 5-6 turnovers in his own half per game, while the second option, Scott Mctominay, couldn’t pass a ball five yards even if his life depended on it.
Casemiro instantly beings a measure of class, respect, and skill that United’s midfield hasn’t seen since the Champions League Finalist days of 2009-11.
Plus, I’m more than glad that United went out and bought someone who actually cares more about football than his bottom line…cough…Adrien Rabiot…cough. According to Fabrizio Romano, the guy was asking ‘ludicrous wages’ by United standards. And that comes with United being desperate and more than willing to double a new signings original salary.
In other words, Rabiot’s ask was INSANE!
The guy must have been asking for 400-500K a week to play, which is stupid wages for a guy can’t get into the Juve’s team anymore. Thankfully, John Murtough opened his eyes and realized the Juventus midfielder wasn’t worth half the club’s wage bill.
Sadly, Casemiro won’t be available for the Liverpool game on Monday, but he should be ready to suit up for his first game for the club against Southhampton. And Man United will need him more than ever against the Saints as I would be shocked if Liverpool didn’t crush United to give the club a horrific 0-3 start.
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