Man Utd's midfield search starts now: Casemiro swansong highlights exactly what Red Devils need during the summer transfer window

Casemiro produced the complete midfield performance against Fulham, doing everything you could hope for from both an attacking and defensive midfielder. He routinely broke up Fulham attacks, moved the ball around the pitch sensibly to fuel United’s build-up, spread the play with long balls, unveled a defence-splitting, goal-creating pass for Cunha and scored with a towering header of his own.

"Form is temporary, class is permanent," said Danny Murphy on Match of the Day. "He has had some difficult spells, but this is a highly intelligent footballer who knows what he’s doing and has been around the block. He was the calm one, he was the one making things happen. Those pivotal moments in attacking areas were so important. In a game where they needed someone to step up, because Bruno [Fernandes] wasn’t at it, he did."

Casemiro’s multi-facetted skillset comes in sharp contrast to Manuel Ugarte, who is only really adept at winning the ball - and he hasn’t been much good at that of late, either. Casemiro's goal numbers are even the envy of attacking midfielders and forwards, as his header was his fifth goal of the season, placing him joint-third on United’s list of top scorers alongside Bruno Fernandes and Sesko. Even though he only has two assists, that is enough to put him joint-third among his team-mates, alongside Cunha and Amad Diallo.

Casemiro's goal ratio - 22 in 148 games, averaging a successful strike every 6.7 appearances - also exceeds every United holding midfielder in the Premier League era. Only Marouane Fellaini, who spent a lot of his United career as an attacking midfielder, comes close with eight, while Scott McTominay is next on 8.8. It is also significantly better than Roy Keane’s average of a goal every 9.4 games, Paul Ince’s 9.7, Carrick’s 19.3, Darren Fletcher’s 14.2, Nicky Butt’s 14.8 or Fred’s 15.2.

Casemiro leads the way among United players for tackles with 52, is second behind Fernandes in recoveries with 51 and second for duels won, only bettered by Patrick Dorgu.

"He has played a crucial role since I took over," said Carrick. "I deeply respect what he does and his daily work ethic. The determination and drive he has - you can only achieve so much with those qualities. He is eager to finish the season strongly."

Casemiro also received praise from an unlikely source in Jamie Carragher. The Liverpool legend effectively wrote the Brazilian’s footballing obituary after the 4-0 defeat to Crystal Palace towards the end of the 2023-24 campaign, but finally climbed down from that position on Sunday.

"It is now fair to say the football has not left him," Carragher said on Sky Sports. "Credit to him, he looks a completely different player. He looks like a different player physically as well.

"Even when I said that, you looked at him and he looked like an old man coming to the end of his time as a player. And whether he let himself go a little bit, or now he's being ultra-professional, physically, he looks completely different."

United’s favoured options to replace Casemiro are well publicised: Carlos Baleba of Brighton, Crystal Palace's Adam Wharton and Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson, as well as Wolves' Joao Gomes as an outside bet.

In terms of productivity, none of them are offering what Casemiro does at the moment, albeit with the important caveat that they are playing for teams in the bottom half of the table, with Forest one place above the relegation zone. Anderson has one goal and two assists, Wharton has zero goals and two assists, while Baleba, who has had a very disappointing season with Brighton, is yet to directly contribute to a goal.

Wharton would elevate United’s ball-playing to a new level and almost matches Casemiro for tackles, but he does not yet have the attacking quality of the Brazilian nor his leadership qualities.

Gomes would be the cheapest option for United at around £44m, but their experience with Ugarte should implore them to spend big on a premium option, as they did with five-time Champions League winner Casemiro.

Wharton’s starting price would be £65m, but could rise all the way to £100m, while it is felt that £100m would be the minimum fee for Anderson. Given the England starter's varied skillset, leadership capacity and career trajectory, he should be the top target, with a nine-figure sum a price worth paying.

Whomever United turn to, they know that replacing Casemiro will not be cheap or simple. Just ask Real Madrid, who spent up to £86m on Aurelien Tchouameni just before selling Casemiro to United, having already paid £34m to get Eduardo Camavinga in the year before to prepare for the Brazilian’s eventual departure.

Madrid’s ungovernable dressing room could sure do with a personality like Casemiro’s at the moment, and United are sure to miss his influential presence as well as his tangible impact on results.

Casemiro is not just bringing United more memories to take with them when he leaves, he is giving them a gargantuan task in finding his replacement.

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