Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim seems to have found his ideal midfield partnership in Kobbie Mainoo and Manuel Ugarte with the duo a regular feature in the starting lineup in recent games.
Due to the Uruguayan’s suspension and the need to manage minutes in the young Englishman’s case, the Portuguese did call upon the experienced duo of Casemiro and Christian Eriksen in the Premier League game against Newcastle a couple of weeks ago.
Safe to say that experiment did not work with the duo not managing to bring the intensity as demanded by the new boss with Amorim open to both leaving this January.
The Brazilian’s departure seemed just around the corner with The Peoples Person recently relaying that United legend Cristiano Ronaldo is keen to reunite with his former teammate and Al-Nassr are pulling out all the stops to make it happen.
Al-Nassr favourites for Casemiro
However, while many might think the deal is all but done, CaughtOffside have a contrasting report to share. They have claimed that the 32-year-old’s wage and contract demands coupled with United’s asking price means there is still a threat a pending deal could yet collapse.
The former Real Madrid superstar is demanding a long-term contract and huge wages, and while paying the money to the defensive midfielder might not be too big of an issue, a long contract makes very little sense given the player’s age and ability.
Interestingly, the Red Devils are also asking for more than £15 million, a sum that Al-Nassr might not find easy to cough up given the huge wage demands of the player.
“With Seko Fofana heading to Rennes and Anderson Talisca possibly to Fenerbahce, Al-Nassr are believed to be prioritising Casemiro’s transfer.
Contract demands and United’s asking price a problem
“The only possible threat to a transfer concluding successfully are the demands from the Brazilian player and United themselves.
“It’s understood Casemiro still wants a decent salary as well as a long-term contract, despite his age, whilst the Red Devils want £15m+ to consider allowing the out of favour 32-year-old to finally move on.”
Interestingly, the report also mentions a new suitor in the race for the five-time Champions League winner — Al-Shabab. Their Turkish coach Fatih Terim is a big fan of the United star.
They could make a move for Casemiro should the Saudi Pro League club fail to strike a deal. Hopefully, INEOS can get this over the line and use the money to bring in reinforcements for Amorim this window.
Feature image Carl Recine via Getty Images
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Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
