Manchester United midfielder Casemiro rejected a late move away from the club last week, despite the Red Devils agreeing the terms of his departure.
Man Utd going through “process” under INEOS
A poor start to the Premier League season has once again seen Erik ten Hag’s position in charge of the Red Devils questioned, but the Manchester United boss insisted that fans needed to have faith in the process at Old Trafford.
Quizzed on outside speculation, the Dutchman explained: “It doesn’t impact me. I know where we are in the process and what we have to do and where we are going.
“I have said before we are still in a transition period. We have to integrate a lot of young players in the team and still have to deal with injuries and bring players back into the team.
“Before anyone thinks about excuses, no, we have to win every game. I know that. The team knows that. It doesn’t matter who is available.”
It comes after a summer which saw the Red Devils spend the second most money in Europe, behind only Chelsea’s scrambled squad building efforts. They shelled out in excess of £200m on five new faces, with Manuel Ugarte joining from PSG on deadline day to cap off a summer that also saw Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui, Joshua Zirkzee and Leny Yoro also make the move to Old Trafford.
Several stars have also left, including Scott McTominay, who headed to Napoli in the final week of the transfer window. However, one of his teammates has opted against following him out of the club.
Casemiro makes deadline day U-turn
That comes as Football Insider report that midfielder Casemiro changed his mind on a Turkish deadline day exit to join Galatasaray. The Turkish transfer window closed on Friday, and they detail that the Brazilian midfielder had initially given the green light to a move away from Old Trafford, only to change his mind and opt for a stay in Manchester until at least January.
Perhaps more tellingly, Galatasaray had already reached an agreement with Manchester United over a loan move for the Brazilian, which would likely have seen the Turkish side take on some but not all of his £350,000 a week wages, a salary that makes him the club’s top earner.
Casemiro has come in for plenty of criticism following his early season performances, being at fault for two of Liverpool’s goals in their recent 3-0 win over the Red Devils. At the start of the season, however, Ten Hag dubbed him a “very important” player for the club.
“I think, as a team, we work good together and I think that makes it for Case very easy. Then he can bring his skills in and then you can see his importance for the game and for our team”, he explained. “He is a big leader for us and very important for the team.”
With Ugarte now in the building though, and Man Utd seemingly ready to sanction a loan exit for the former Real Madrid ace, his days in Ten Hag’s first team look to be numbered, and United are already planning to sign new midfielders next summer which could signal his departure.
