Manchester United have made an approach to sign Real Madrid's Brazil midfielder Casemiro in a deal that would be worth about £60m.
The 30-year-old would become one of the club's top earners if he decided to join the side currently bottom of the Premier League after two matches.
After talks to sign Juventus' Adrien Rabiot collapsed over the player's demands, United have turned their attention to Casemiro as they look to address weaknesses in Erik ten Hag's midfield.
Casemiro has been with Real since 2013, winning three La Liga titles and five Champions Leagues.
Although Casemiro has a contract that runs to 2025, Real are mindful of the scale of United's offer of a contract that could extend to 2027 once the option of an additional season is added on. They would not stand in his way if he decided to accept.
He would arrive at United on a big salary in keeping with his status as one of 30 players nominated for this year's Ballon D'Or, even if his place at Real is under threat from new arrival Aurelien Tchouameni.
One of the best defensive midfield players in the world, Casemiro has been effective in a team that drops deep when it does not have possession, which Real tend to do with Luka Modric and Toni Kroos in their team.
The Brazil international spent a season away from the Bernabeu on loan at Portuguese side Porto in 2014-15 but returned to Spain the following season after Real activated his buy-back clause.
He has made 222 appearances for the Spanish giants and scored 24 goals.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/62588396
BBC: United make Casemiro approach
posted on 18/8/22
comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 13 minutes ago
How would the freed up wages pay for a player costing over £60m? Ronaldo doesn’t get paid over a million pounds a week.
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I meant the wages.
United have the funds to complete both transfers though; that isn’t a problem.
posted on 18/8/22
I don’t think we do. We need to sell to fund more big transfers.
posted on 18/8/22
comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 22 minutes ago
Only the other day it was reported we’d be willing to sell Garner for £14m to help with transfer funds. We’re clearly not buying 2 £60m midfielders.
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Something in the ballpark of £80m has already come off the wage bill, before Ronaldo. If his contract is cancelled, that’ll jump to around £100m.
Something like £15m of that saving has been committed in the new signings.
Beyond the cash the club is sitting on and access to the revolving credit (which has been consistently drawn upon to fund transfers), those savings will make a big, big difference when the club is looking at what it’s willing to invest in both new wages and transfer fees.
If two £60m midfielders were available and willing to come, and ETH and the club thought they were priorities and the right players, they’d spend the money. That isn’t an issue I don’t think.
The larger issues are whether the ‘right players’ are available and amenable.
posted on 18/8/22
comment by Darren The King Fletcher (U10026)
posted 19 seconds ago
I don’t think we do. We need to sell to fund more big transfers.
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Maybe *want* to; undoubtedly don’t need to.
posted on 18/8/22
But we only seem to have this money when we panic. We’ve had all summer long to be getting these ‘right’ players and now we seem to be enquiring about half the players in Europe.
There is no valid reason why we couldn’t buy anyone for the past 3 months but are now trying to get anyone.
posted on 18/8/22
Manchester United’s owners could invest £100m of their own money into the club. I don’t need to qualify obvious things that won’t happen when we are all on the same page regarding what the club can and cannot do under the current model. So yes we do need to sell players. You’re just being pedantic.
posted on 18/8/22
comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 1 minute ago
But we only seem to have this money when we panic. We’ve had all summer long to be getting these ‘right’ players and now we seem to be enquiring about half the players in Europe.
There is no valid reason why we couldn’t buy anyone for the past 3 months but are now trying to get anyone.
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Yeah, I’m not arguing that.
I’m just saying that there’s a lot of money available for both transfers and wages if they *want* to spend it.
posted on 18/8/22
comment by Darren The King Fletcher (U10026)
posted 3 minutes ago
Manchester United’s owners could invest £100m of their own money into the club. I don’t need to qualify obvious things that won’t happen when we are all on the same page regarding what the club can and cannot do under the current model. So yes we do need to sell players. You’re just being pedantic.
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I was just trying to point out that there’s a difference between can/can’t and will/won’t.
The club is relatively cash rich, has access to good credit (which it has used repeatedly), and has seen an excellent recovery in gross profit even before the wage bill has absolutely plummeted (already by well over a third).
There’s a ton of money available to spend. The question is willingness.
If I have misread others’ comments and this was understood by all already, I apologise.
posted on 18/8/22
AS reporting Madrid are looking at Bruno Guimaraes as a possible replacement for Casemiro
posted on 18/8/22
Doubt Newcastle have any plans to sell him so soon.