Casemiro as salvation. How will he help Manchester United the most?

This transfer is a sensation for Manchester United. Although many fans are sceptical whether it is right to pay €70 million for a 30-year-old player, the arrival of Casemiro could be a coup. And for several reasons.

The dream defensive midfielder

This position has long been a huge weakness for Manchester United. Neither Nemanja Matic, let alone the much-criticised McTominay and Fred, have been able to fill this position with quality.

Fans have been crying out for a quality defensive midfielder for a long time and now they are finally getting one. And even a caliber they never dreamed of. There is no point in listing Casemiro’s team achievements, although winning five Champions League trophies, two more than United (3) in the club’s entire history, sounds impressive.

For the Brazilian midfielder, let’s rather appreciate his contribution to the team. Ancelotti entered the 2014/15 season without a defensive midfielder, with Kroos, who is not a defensive type, playing in that position. It was the same the next season before Zinedine Zidane came in.

He sensed the need to insert a defensive midfielder into the team and used Casemiro, who had already played some time at Real and returned from a loan spell at Porto. What followed is already history.

Casemiro, along with Kroos and Modric, formed perhaps the best trio of midfielders in history, at least in terms of achievements. Ancelotti called the CKM trio the Bermuda Triangle.

It was Casemiro, after all, who was the key link to Real’s hat-trick in the Champions League in 2016-2018. Los Blancos have always had attacking stars, but the São Paulo native added stability to the team, untying the arms and legs of Kroos and Modric, while also providing stoppers, so that the extreme defenders Carvajal and Marcelo could attack as they pleased.

Leader

Another huge strength of Casemiro is great leadership. At Real Madrid, he has already worked his way up to one of the four captains and owes this not only to his performances on the pitch, but especially off it.

In fact, the Spanish media, citing sources from the club, carried an extensive report last year on how important Casemiro is in the cabinet. The Brazilian takes charge of all the young talents that come out of the academy and join in training with the A-team.

He’s nicknamed the “father of young players” because he makes sure that all the youngsters are involved in the team and that they have the smoothest possible transition to the stars.

Federico Valverde said the same when he said goodbye to his midfield partner.

“Today words are useless. You were one of the first to open the doors of your home in Madrid, who gave me a helping hand and always showed his trust in me. I will certainly miss you on the pitch, but even more so off it. Thanks for everything Case,” Valverde said goodbye to the Brazilian.

At the same time, he has a big say in the locker room and according to all his teammates, he gets along with everyone and makes sure the atmosphere in the team is good. Because of his sharp tackles on the pitch, the fans of the other teams don’t like him, but at the Valdebebas training centre they can’t praise Casemiro enough.

A winning mentality

Another attribute that Manchester United are bound to refuel with full gulp. Cristiano Ronaldo brought in a similar spirit last year after his arrival, only he was on his own and gradually even he lost the strength to break things on his own.

In the spring last season and at the start of the new season, it is almost true that if the Red Devils score first, they will lose, as the players are committed and have no power to turn the game around.

And who better to help with that than a man who comes from a team of magical “comebacks”? Real Madrid turned 9 games last season, some of them crucial, like against PSG, Chelsea, Manchester City and Sevilla.

And Casemiro is the epitome of all these turnarounds, as when his team is losing, it is the 30-year-old Brazilian who you see relentlessly encouraging his team and believing until the last second. A beautiful example can be found in the Champions League the year before last.

Real Madrid were already 0:2 down in the group stage at Borussia Mönchengladbach, and after a 2:3 defeat to Shakhtar in the opening round, this defeat would have pushed Real to the edge of the precipice. But, as he has done time and again, Casemiro intervened.

In the 87th minute, Valverde’s overhit centre flew over the line, you wouldn’t find many players running after it. The video even shows Valverde putting his hands behind his head in the bottom right and Modric waving his arms angrily.

Only Casemiro emerges and headed the ball into the box past the surprised Gladbach defenders and Benzema headed over to reduce it to 1: 2. In the 93rd minute, a Modric centre was then returned in front of goal by Ramos, Casemiro cleared the ball into the net to seal a 2-2 draw that kept Real in contention for promotion from the group, the Merengues eventually reaching the semi-finals.

Motivation

If you listen to the critical voices, you will often read that buying Brazilians in their thirties is nonsense, that the players of this nationality are no longer motivated and are fading a lot. Yes, this is often true, but the vast majority of them are attacking stars who are enjoying their fame, namely Ronaldinho, Robinho or Neymar.

It’s just that Casemiro is a defensive bulldog who has always had his game built on diligence, hard work and toil. He has never wowed the fans with technical finesse and so is in no danger of starting to rely on his talent alone.

Moreover, as mentioned above, he still has a great hunger for success, as we could see in the recent Super Cup where he put in a great performance. Firstly, like against Gladbach, he brought the ball back into play from the goal line to pass the ball to Alaba for the goal. Then he hit the crossbar with his left foot and made some great defensive saves.

In sum, Casemiro is one of the best defensive midfielders in the world and has been a key point in Real Madrid’s successes over the last decade. He will be a huge boost for Manchester United and it is now up to the Red Devils to use the Brazilian properly and not put him in the column of wasted transfers.

Source: Real Madrid, Twitter, Transfermarkt