Casemiro has been one of Manchester United's best players this season, he's also going to leave the club at the end of the season. This puts Manchester United and their fans in a tough position, as his continued impressive performances begs the question if the Red Devils should somehow renegotiate with the former Real Madrid star and have him stay at the club for another season or 2.
Casemiro's time at Manchester United
We feel that Casemiro's time at Manchester United can be divided into 3 phases, the one under Erik Ten Haag, the one under Ruben Amorim, and now his current phase under Michael Carrick. Casemiro had an outstanding debut season for Manchester United under Erik Ten Haag, as he was spectacular in defense and looked like the kind of special player that the Reds Devils were missing in midfield for a lot of years. In fact, he was one of United's best players at the time.
Soon, Casemiro's performances started to drop, and he looked like a player who had lost his legs and could no longer handle the pressure and intensity of the Premier League. A weaker Casemiro also meant a huge decline in the performances of Manchester United as well. Erik Ten Haag was eventually sacked by the club, and then replaced by Ruben Amorim.
Ruben Amorim initially did not favour Casemiro, and at one point it even looked like the Brazilian may never start for him. Soon, Casemiro went on to have a revival under Amorim, and become an influential player for Manchester United once again. It was not only a major boost for the team to have Casemiro back to his best, but also a major boost for him on a personal level, as the majority had claimed during his struggling period that he was finished as a top-level player.
Similar to Ten Haag, Ruben Amorim was soon sacked by Manchester United, mainly for his comments against the United board. This led to Michael Carrick being United's caretaker coach, and now Casemiro is once again influential and brilliant under the former Manchester United player. In fact, under Carrick, Casemiro has scored 2 crucial goals in 2 of United's last 3 games.
Under Carrick, Casemiro is currently not only just a solid defensive midfielder, but also a leader and veteran with huge experience and maturity that none of the other players possess in the current United squad. Additionally, he has become a huge threat from set-pieces as well in recent games. Thus, in short, the Brazilian is a special package, and one of those rare players you simply can't replace easily. This brings us to the major question.
Should Manchester United renew Casemiro's contract?
It was in January that Manchester United revealed in their official website that Casemiro would be leaving the club after the expiry of his contract once the season ends. One of the major reasons United decided not to trigger a one-year extension in Casemiro's contract is due to his huge wages, reported to be around £350,000 to £375,000 per week.
We feel that the best thing for both the club and player to do would be to somehow renegotiate a short-term deal with a lower salary that Casemiro is okay with and United can accept. As things stand, it looks like both United and Casemiro need each other. The Brazilian can also play a huge role for United next season if used properly according to his fitness levels, especially if they qualify for the Champions League.
Casemiro still looks to have at least a season of Premier League football left in him, even if it's in a reduced role with lesser appearances. Whether we get to see that or not remains to be seen. As things stand, it looks inevitable that he'll leave Manchester United after the season ends.
