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Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has poured cold water on claims that Manchester United are struggling to sell Casemiro this summer.
The Brazilian is easily United’s top earner, bringing home a whopping £350,000 a week, costing United £18.2 million per year (as per capology.com). This fact, coupled with a terrible 2023/24 season by his standards, has left the club desperate to offload him despite his immense pedigree.
At 32 years of age, many believe the Brazilian’s “legs have gone” and so there are few parties interested in taking him on.
With two years left on his huge contract, he is unlikely to entertain any moves where a drastic salary cut would be needed, making him very hard to shift.
The most likely option is Saudi Arabia. Money is no object for the Saudi Pro League teams and with Casemiro’s friend and former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo leading the recruitment drive, there could be a strong attraction to the Middle East for the five-time Champions League winner.
There have, accordingly, been numerous reports of Saudi interest, although of late they have been rumoured to have gone off the boil.
However, according to Romano in his Daily Briefing this morning, “The exit of Casemiro remains an important part of the story [of United’s pursuit of Manuel Ugarte], but honestly guys, I can’t confirm anything regarding rumours that United are having trouble selling him.. no.
“Interest from Saudi in Casemiro remains but sometimes it just takes time to agree on contract, transfer fee and more.”
In terms of a transfer fee, it is unlikely that United will make this a sticking point, given the importance of taking his wages off the books.
On the other hand, he is still a world class player on his day and has a market value of €20 million as per transfermarkt.com, so they would expect some sort of compensation were he to leave.
One of the difficulties United face in this transaction is time. If the midfielder is to leave, the club will need to replace him, but their financial power is limited by the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules, meaning that they may well have to sell before they can buy.
However, the SPL kicks off just a week after the Premier League, so any chasing clubs will surely want to tie up a deal for Casemiro fairly soon in order to give him time to settle in before the season begins.
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