What’s the story?
Reports suggest that Manchester United and Chelsea have expressed interest in Real Madrid superstar Casemiro, who has in turn reportedly made massive contract demands off the Bernabeu management. He was most recently in the news for that thunderbolt of a goal against Napoli – showing that he also had exceptional technique on the ball alongside his immaculate positioning, ball winning abilities, discipline, strength and relentless energy.
In case you didn’t know
Casemiro was never in the good books of President Florentino Perez, who has a history of not valuing defensive midfielders (say hello now, Claude), Rumours still persist that it was Rafael Benitez’s insistence of playing the Brazilian hard-man that led to the Spaniard’s sacking. Whatever said and done Zinedine Zidane has reposed vast amounts of faith in the midfield destroyer (the great Frenchman of course famously said during the sale of Claude Makelele/purchase of David Beckham – “ why add another gold layer to the Bentley if you are selling the engine”!!) and he has become an integral part of the Real Madrid midfield protecting the middle of the park flanked by the passing genius of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos.
The heart of the matter
The Brazilian has proved pivotal to Zidane’s tactics as his positional discipline and hard work has enabled the Frenchman to play out a variety of attacking formations/combinations around him. Despite missing out a portion of the season due to injury, he has already made 23 appearances this season. The 24-year-old almost always starts if fit.
His displays haven’t gone unnoticed, and Manchester United – who are most likely letting go of the services of Michael Carrick at the end of the season – could use a defensive-minded midfielder to free up Ander Herrera and Paul Pogba. Casemiro also looks to be cut on in the perfect Jose Mourinho mould. Antonio Conte, meanwhile, is looking to strengthen an already immensely strong central midfield, what with Europe coming up next season.
What’s next
There are three possible ways this can play out – Manchester United move in with a massive bid and get their man after outbidding Chelsea, Chelsea move in with a massive bid and get their man after outbidding Manchester United, or the most likely one where Casemiro uses this demand (and Zidane’s need of him) to his advantage and works out a better contract for himself. Reportedly, he has already taken the latter option and has demanded a £2.5million-per-year deal.
Sportskeeda’s Take
Casemiro’s future depends entirely on how badly Zidane wants to keep him, and how strongly he, in turn, can convince Florentino Perez of the indisposable necessity of keeping ahold of the Brazilian. Even if he does move on to United or Chelsea, the lad is most likely going to walk into their starting XIs, so the way we see it, he is in a win-win situation
