Casemiro has provided a timely reminder to both Erik ten Hag and his Man Utd teammates of what must always be the most important thing at Old Trafford.
The Brazil international, 31, was far from being Man Utd’s first choice with regards to midfield additions last summer. Frenkie de Jong held that honour, though a multi-month pursuit failed to bear fruit.
Next up came Adrien Rabiot of Juventus. However, the player’s mother who also doubles up as his agent, Veronique, priced her son out of a move when it came to negotiating his salary.
Only when De Jong and Rabiot came and went did a move for Casemiro take shape. Eyebrows were raised when United committed to a package worth £70m (including add-ons) for a player already the wrong side of 30. However, Casemiro’s magnificent first campaign in England has quickly laid any criticisms to rest.
Despite a flurry of red cards, Casemiro has been everything Man Utd and Ten Hag could’ve hoped for and more.
Aside from expertly shielding his backline and chipping in with 11 goal contributions at the other end, Casemiro has also earned rave reviews for his masterful leadership.
United lifted their first major trophy since 2017 with Casemiro in the eleven when winning the League Cup. At a crucial point in the season with Europa League and FA Cup ties coming up, Casemiro has reminded those at Man Utd of the importance of lifting silverware.
Casemiro came to Old Trafford on the back of a trophy-laden stint at Real Madrid that returned 18 major honours. However, rather than be content to gradually wind down in his post-Madrid days, Casemiro is gunning for a serious trophy haul at United too.
The Brazilian recently spoke to FIFPro and his comments about the importance of securing silverware spoke volumes about the character and drive he’s brought to Manchester.
Casemiro also stressed he’s fully aware United are far from the finished article and must continue to improve to get to where they wish to be.
“Without a doubt it is always important to win a title” – Casemiro
“It was the end of a period where I was very happy [in Spain] and of course, when you change things, it’s always a long-term project,” said Casemiro.
“Thank God things have gone well and we won a title [League Cup] – but we know that we still have a lot of growing to do; we know we still have a lot of work to do to keep growing and to keep winning titles.
“Without a doubt it is always important to win a title, especially the [League Cup], which is especially important for us because it has been a long time since the club had that feeling of winning one.
“We know we still have to keep growing, to keep working with a lot of humility. But I believe that with the technical committee, together with the players we have, we can continue to grow much more.”
United face Nottingham Forest in the league on Sunday, though attention will then shift to two crunch cup clashes.
