Casemiro has played his last game for Manchester United. Speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of the Red Devils’ trip to Brighton on Sunday, interim manager Michael Carrick explained the situation. Casemiro leaves “We always kind of decided that last week would be his last game, so I think that went well, as well as we all could have hoped to be honest, and he’s been fantastic and I’ve said a lot of things about Case and how well he’s done for me since I’ve been here and for the whole club.” “It was decided that it was a good time for him to finish, really, so again, I’m just saying what the …about bringing young players through and academy players and younger players, giving them opportunities is a real responsibility that we feel towards the game, as well and getting the balance right at certain times going into games like this.” “But it’s an opportunity to – depending on how the game goes – to try and make the most of that because we’ve got some really good young players that we want to try to take the next step to give them the opportunity. So hopefully that pans out in a positive way for us.” “It just felt the right time I think for Case and it was decided, he’s part of that as well, so it was the right time. There is an element of a balance … we’re not done, you know, the season’s not done for us, so we’re really conscious of that. So there’s a real balance between trying new things moving forward, keep evolving.” “There’s always games that we’ve tried different things in that some might know with some people might not know with others. So I think the biggest thing is that we’re really conscious to respect this last game and what it stands for and obviously try and make the best of it for us. We want to go down there and put in a good performance and try and win the game.” Carrick’s own future Asked about the highly expected announcement that he has got the permanent job as manager, Carrick replied: “Yeah, it was said the end of the season pretty much, so we’re not far away, a couple of days away. So yeah, I said to you the other day about clarity is pretty much around the corner and it is going to be now, but at this stage I can’t really give you any more.” On the Southampton spying controversy Carrick was asked to comment on his old club Middlesbrough’s situation after the FA removed Southampton from the Premier League playoffs for spying on their training camp. “I’m not close enough to it to understand all the details to be honest with you,” he replied. “So, the only thing I can say, it’s unfortunate for a lot of people and a lot of people were involved in all the football clubs that I’ve ended up being involved in, all Southampton and Middlesbrough, so the whole situation is a little bit unfortunate.” “All I can say is that I wish Middlesbrough all the best, obviously I’ve had great times there. I’ve got a lot of friends there and I’d love to see, especially the players and seeing them do well. They gave everything for me when I was there, the ones that were there, so to see them have success and end up in the Premier League, I take a lot pride in that.” Sunday’s game against Brighton Asked if he had any team news for Sunday, the boss said “Not really”. He was then asked about the opponents, who are chasing a European qualification spot. “Well, we’re certainly conscious of the situation of the game and what’s at stake,” he assured the reporter. “I think we’ve certainly got a responsibility for that.” “We’ve managed to put ourselves in a position where we are the position that we are in the league and I’ve said about we wanted to finish strong for ourselves as much as anything, so… We’re approaching the game as we would any other game. There’s a lot to play for Brighton, for Bournemouth, for all the other clubs surrounding that, so we’re well aware of that.” Congratulations to Arsenal On Arsenal winning the Premier League with a game to spare, the manager said: “First of all, I’d like to say huge congratulations to Arsenal and Mikel [Arteta] and the players and all the staff. I think when you win the league, you win because you deserve it. So much over such a long period of time needs to be done so well in order to win it. They’ve been really consistent over a number of years now and the patience and the improvement that they’ve had of taking steps, I think they’re at a stage now where they deserve to win it.” “As a football club, of course, that’s where we want to be. We’ve been there in the past, and it doesn’t mean necessarily you’ll always be there again, but that’s certainly, as a football, what we’re striving for as soon as possible, really.” “As I’ve said before, I think just keep moving forward in so many ways. It is never the finished article, it definitely is not in terms of where we want to be as a football club. I think we’re moving in a good direction, I mean momentum, positivity and improvements is always, whether that’s sometimes it’s staff, sometimes it’s playing squad, sometimes it is new ideas, just keep evolving as much as we possibly can as a club.” On catching up with City and Arsenal, he added: “There’s always improvement within the squad of course, certain things you want to tweak, certain things which we have done as we’ve progressed really, so just because it’s the end of the season it doesn’t change what we’ve said it from the start. We came in to try and put things in place and improve for the longer term, so it’s not just because the season’s coming to an end that that gets cleared up and whatever happens it goes in a certain direction.” “I think we’ve got a really good foundation of the squad and a good mixture of age in different stages of the career. I think we’ve proved that we’re really dangerous and we can score goals, which is exciting and encouraging moving forward for sure.” The embargoed section of the presser will be released at 10.30pm on Saturday and will be reported here in full. Featured image by Molly Darlington/Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Red Billy Red Billy is the managing editor of The Peoples Person, author of three books and two magazines and totally obsessed with football’s transfer market. Billy first saw United live in 1971, watching George Best, Bobby Charlton and Denis Law, before becoming a League Match ticket book holder from 1975/76 and a writer since 1995. Billy still insists Matteo Darmian and Alex Telles could have made it at United given half a chance.