Mike Keegan of the Mail Online says that Man Utd will focus on signing younger players and that deals like that of Casemiro for £70m will be 'a thing of the past.'
"The emphasis will continue to be on recruiting younger players. Arrivals of those with the profile of a Casemiro and an outlay of £70m on a 30-year-old, are a thing of the past" via United Zone.
United signed Casemiro in the 22/23 season for £70m from Real Madrid on a four-year deal with an option to extend for a further year which will take him to the end of the 26/27 campaign. He was 30-years-old when he signed and will be 35 should he see out his entire contract by June 2027.
Despite his age, wage and signing on fee, it was seen as a good deal given his experience, leadership and winners mindset having won everything in club football with Real Madrid. MUFC didn't have enough of players like that at the club which made this move even better.
His first year at United further indicated how good of a deal this was as he was the (unofficial) player of the season.
Casemiro was superb both defensively and going forward with the midfield partnership he had with Christian Eriksen being one of the standout areas of our team.
The Brazilian scored 7 goals and had 7 assists in that first season indicating that this was one of his best seasons yet even though he was considered the best CDM in football throughout his time at Madrid.
Tbh, I didn't even know Casemiro was that good. I didn't know he had that range of passing or was such a threat going forward. For Los Blancos, he never really showed this attacking prowess nor the ability on the ball and was simply seen as this destroyer in midfield allowing his then midfield partners Toni Kroos and Luka Modric to be the more flamboyant of that trio.
However, last season was a year to forget with Casemiro having a shockingly poor campaign as it was unexplainable how he fell from being one of our best players to one of our worst. He also picked up a knock that kept him out for 2 months which didn't help as well. It was also the first time that the then 31-year-old suffered such a problem.
This season, he hasn't been as bad but has still not been anywhere near good enough. Ruben Amorim substituted the Brazilian after just 56 minutes in United's 1-1 draw at Ipswich which isn't actually a good sign for the 32-year-old.
With the likes of Kobbie Mainoo and Mason Mount returning as well as Amorim's man Manuel Ugarte all available for selection in midfield, Casemiro's time in the first team could be very limited.
It would be quite expensive to be having a £350k-a-week player sitting on the bench. It was also known that United and then manager Erik ten Hag would've rather let go of the midfielder last summer as there was a lot of noise linking him with a move to Saudi Arabia.
That obviously didn't come to pass and he has just become another example of how these once great players can only give you one season of their best in the Premier League at this age.
United have signed many of these 30+-year-olds over the last decade with all of them only really performing for one season making us think whether it was good business or not.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic signed for United in 2016. While he was a free agent at the time, he was also 34-years-old and on a wage of £19m-a-year. He performed really well in that first year but thanks to an ACL injury, it shortened his time at Old Trafford and he was moved on to the MLS in March 2018.
Edinson Cavani came in in the 20/21 season as a free agent but was on a weekly wage of £210k over his two seasons at Old Trafford. He was 33 at the time. 'El Matador' proved to be worthy of the iconic number 7 shirt but thanks to injuries and the return of the number 7 the following season, he too was let go after two seasons.
Cristiano Ronaldo came back and proved to be another of these old greats as he scored 24 goals in his comeback season. While he was a cheap deal from Juventus (£12m, the same as when he was signed back in 2003), his weekly wage was a whopping £515k!
He and Erik ten Hag had a falling out curtailing his original two-year deal and he ended up doing that explosive interview with Piers Morgan leading to a premature end to his second spell at Old Trafford.
His ex-Real teammate Casemiro then joined in that 22/23 campaign and you know the rest.
I'm actually glad we're moving away from these type of deals. While yes, it is always great to have legends of the game join your club at whatever age, that is more short term gain for long term pain.
They do well for a season before they fall apart and end up leaving the club after United spent all that money on them, which isn't those players' faults of course, but even still, that is a hell of lot of money to spend on just one player who's coming to the end of his career.
INEOS have also brought in players that are of an age profile of teenager to mid-twenties, players who haven't reached their prime and have long years ahead of them. They also have a lot of potential and room to improve especially with a manager like Amorim.
All of Zirkzee (23), Yoro (19, 18 when he signed), Mazraoui (27, 26 when he signed), De Ligt (25) and Ugarte (23) are young and can be at the club a long time. As they aren't these big names, they also won't cost the club as much.
Even when looking at those we're currently linked to, they fit that age range well. Alphonso Davies (24), Theo Hernandez (27) and Victor Boniface (23) just to name a few.
That is the type of profile we should be looking for instead of these old-timers who were once great but are coming to the twilight of their careers. It doesn't really do us much good in the long run despite it being awesome for the now.
I'm really happy with the club moving in this direction.
Background Image: Casemiro | Image credit: Getty Images via Goal