Manchester United completed the signing of Casemiro for a reported $60 million on Monday, hours after the Brazil international made an emotional departure from Real Madrid after a trophy-laden nine years at the Spanish club.
The latest signing comes as United scrambles to bring in players in the final days of the transfer window. Discontent has soared following the club’s poor start to the season, which has seen the team lose both of its games – 2-1 at home to Brighton and a 4-0 humiliation at Brentford.
Casemiro was presented to United’s fans on the field at Old Trafford ahead of the Premier League game against Liverpool.
The 30-year-old midfielder has signed a contract until 2026, with the option of a further year.
“I’m ending one beautiful journey in Madrid whilst starting another in Manchester," Casemiro said in a United statement, “as determined as ever to win football matches, win trophies and make our fans proud by bringing success to this great club.”
United has been looking to sign a defensive midfielder during this transfer window and has been closely linked with Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong.
Casemiro is older than De Jong but has the experience of winning five Champions League titles and playing 63 times for Brazil.
“Casemiro is a serial winner and one of the best midfielders in world football; his exceptional record speaks for itself,” said John Murtough, United's football director.
“He complements the skillsets of the squad and will be a great addition to the dressing room with his experience, knowledge and character.”
Earlier Monday, Casemiro held a news conference in Madrid, saying it was “the hardest decision of my life” to leave the team he joined in 2013 from São Paulo.
It was an emotional farewell for Casemiro, who felt his cycle with the Spanish club ended after the team won the Champions League last season.
“It’s always hard to make such an important decision in your life, it’s always difficult, but when the Champions League final ended, I spoke with my agent and told him that I had the feeling that my cycle here had ended,” he said.
Casemiro couldn’t hold back tears at times.
“What I have won here is not going to change, but there in Manchester I haven’t won anything and I’m to try to help the club as I did here,” Casemiro said. “I’m going with all the motivation in the world.”
Casemiro said his move to United, where he joins former Madrid teammates Cristiano Ronaldo and Raphael Varane, was not motivated by money.
“Those who think that don’t know me,” he said. “If money was the issue, I would have left four or five years ago. This club has always been very good to me. I really like the Premier League and wanted to play there.”
United won the last of its record 20 English league titles in 2013, the year managerial great Alex Ferguson retired. In recent years, two of United’s biggest rivals, Manchester City and Liverpool, have dominated the domestic game.
United hasn’t won a major trophy in five seasons, its worst run since the early 1980s, despite the club having spent $1.5 billion on players since 2013.
This season has started badly, too, under Erik ten Hag, its fifth manager since Ferguson. There are already question marks over the Dutch coach’s tactics and team selection.
The future of Ronaldo is also uncertain after he pushed to leave during the offseason because United didn’t qualify for the Champions League.
Ronaldo was dropped to the bench against Liverpool, along with club captain Harry Maguire.
The target of the majority of the anger at the Premier League side is the Glazer family, which bought United in 2005 with a leveraged takeover that loaded debt onto a club which previously didn’t have any.
Critics say the Glazers, who also own the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, have failed to invest enough of their own cash in the squad or facilities and have presided over years of failure by England’s biggest team.
Payments on interest, debt and dividends to the Glazers are estimated to have cost United more than 1 billion pounds.
Dissent toward the ownership, which has simmered since the 2005 takeover, erupted in May last year when a home league game against Liverpool had to be called off after the stadium – empty because of pandemic restrictions – was stormed before the game and thousands more supporters blocked access into Old Trafford. Two police officers were injured in clashes with fans.
That protest was sparked by the club’s involvement in the failed European Super League breakaway that collapsed amid a groundswell of condemnation from fans and the British government.
The Glazers pledged to rebuild trust with United fans in the wake of that protest but there has been little evidence of that. Joel Glazer, a co-chairman, met in person with United fans in June 2021 and outlined his intentions to invest heavily in all aspects of the club and strengthen fan representation in the decision-making process.
