Out of nowhere, our midfielder Casemiro has come out and done an interview that talks about his career so far and what he would like to fulfill moving forward.

I'm not sure when this was done but it came out this afternoon with the 5x Champions League winner but more importantly Carabao and FA Cup winner with United 😉 giving an insight to what has been a stellar career.

Casemiro talked about his past with Real Madrid during which he won everything in club football including three-peating the CL and how a certain Luka Modric inspired that side to go on and achieve something no club has done before.

Interestingly though, and this perhaps raised a few eyebrows, the Brazilian admits that it was his first season at United that was his best as a professional footballer.

In an interview with Diario AS, the 32-year-old said:

"Looking at my career, individually, my best season as a professional footballer was the first with #mufc. I'm not saying collectively in terms of titles. Madrid's Champions League is the ultimate, but as a player I think Old Trafford saw the best version of Casemiro in my first year."

😳. I know, right?

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He added that he respects United and is grateful and that with a year-and-a-half left on his current deal, "I'd like to fulfil it here in Manchester."

“I'm comfortable here, I’m happy and so is my family. They've adapted, we speak English."

So it doesn't look like the midfielder plans to leave any time soon despite not getting much game time under Ruben Amorim and looking like he's past his best.

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But on these two comments, while it seems a little outrageous to think he believes his best season was at United even though he completed football at Madrid, I actually agree with him.

Casemiro says that 'as a professional footballer' it was his best not that it was his best in terms of what was won.

That first season with him was something else.

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Admittedly, I was never a massive fan of his whilst at Madrid. I always felt that he was a bit dirty and got away with a lot of dirty shit. I was also not a fan of his as a footballer because there was nothing attractive about his game. When one mentions the word 'destroyer' in regards to describing a CDM, one automatically thinks of Casemiro, which he was and was arguably the best. Destroyer is also not a word that you would associate with something that is subtle and easy going.

But that style worked for Madrid as he along with Toni Kroos and Modric were part of one of the greatest midfield trios in football history. They all complimented each other really well.

I just never saw him as a player who was great on the ball, could spread passes like Scholes, could dictate the play, control the tempo or was quite a threat in attack.

So when he came to United, I wasn't too excited.

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However, the way he performed in 22/23 was an absolute dream, and quite the surprise.

Casemiro started to do a lot of those things I just mentioned. He even had an eye for creativity when looking at some of his passing.

Up front and particularly in the air, he is so dominant as he scored a lot of headers including that late equalizer at Stamford Bridge.

Being able to play like that while maintaining his destroyer abilities paired with that South American passion, he was the ultimate CDM and exactly what was needed in our midfield.

People said he came for the money, well, that first season showed that Casemiro was more than capable of holding his own in the Premier League and didn't make the move from Madrid to Manchester for the paycheck.

That price tag of £70m was a lot but looked to be worth it.

I thought he was player of the season that year as he truly revolutionized our team.

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Then last season 😐.

What happened to him (and many others) is inexplicable.

The dropoff from a potential player of the season to what we saw last year is something that I still can't explain now.

All of his football ability looked to have disappeared and it didn't help when he picked up his first major injury in his career which kept him out for 2 months. Many thought that it was perhaps too much of a workload for the Brazilian that caused this dropoff and that maybe his layoff could be what was needed. Maybe he could come back better?

He came back worse.

Much worse.

And things have only deteriorated further this season.

Again, I still can't explain it.

How do you go from what we saw in 22/23 to what we're seeing now? It wasn't even a gradual decrease in performances but one more akin to falling off a cliff.

Now he can't cover the ground as well, he's too slow, the anticipation isn't there, the reaction time is not good enough, he doesn't create as much and more than anything, is so bad he can't get in the team.

He was once the first name on the team sheet.

It's uncanny.

I agree that that first campaign was brilliant and the best we've seen of Casemiro the footballer as he displayed abilities that most probably didn't know he had but since then, since then...

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As for him saying he and his family are comfortable and that he'd like to fulfill his contract, of course he would. Bro is on £350k-a-week at United and does next to nothing.

The loss to Spurs was his first start in the league since the 2-0 defeat to Newcastle at the end of December, six games ago.

He's clearly not a player in Amorim's plans as he's even resorted to using Eriksen and Collyer ahead of him whether from the start or bench.

I understand why he's comfortable because not only is he and his family now settled as they've been in Manchester for 3 years, but because of that wonderful paycheck.

I know that it isn't Casemiro's fault to be earning that money because why would you turn down such a wage? but I thought that he would actually like to play a bit more now that he's coming towards the end of his career.

I feel as though he's had a good run at United and it's time to move on. He's not good enough and we need new players and unless he's content with being a squad player who can provide some help (and earn that high wage while doing so) then I suppose it makes sense for him to stay at United.

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However, the fact that he wants to stay means that it could be harder to let him go unless a ridiculous offer comes in. We know that United have to sell to buy and Casemiro would be the perfect player to get off the books. It saves United £18m a year in wages and frees up a place in our squad for that player we need.

This could also mean that the club won't have to sack a lot of staff which they are doing to save money.

Casemiro has every right to stay and finish his contract at United while earning that incredibly high wage which the club were responsible for giving to him but won't a part of you feel wrong knowing that if you go, the club could have the money to perhaps keep some of that staff they're having to remove just to save costs? Casemiro is also not being used so that would make me feel even worse.

He should've been looking for another club and it shouldn't be about money (if it is) for a player who's probably earned quite a lot throughout his career.

This is where it looks like he is here just for the money.

But what do you make of Casemiro's interesting interview and him stating that he's comfortable at United and wants to fulfill his remaining 18 months at the club? And do you agree with him that his first season at Old Trafford was his best as a professional footballer?

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Background Image: Casemiro | Creator: Carl Recine | Credit: Getty Images Copyright: 2024 Getty Images via Man Utd News