According to The Sun, Jim Ratcliffe is planning to get rid of midfielder Casemiro due to his high wages but Manchester United cannot seem to find a buyer.
The midfielder has seen a massive dip in form this season and clubbed with a lengthy injury, Casemiro has played just 649 minutes of Premier League football this season.
The ex-Madrid man is nearing a comeback but his rumoured £350,000-per-week salary is proving to be a major issue for the club. And maybe that’s why Jim Ratcliffe’s first major overhaul plan involves getting rid of Casemiro as soon as possible.
Initially, it was thought that Ten Hag is ready to part ways with the Brazilian in January itself but the manager seems to have taken a U-turn because the latest reports are suggesting that Casemiro is not up for sale this month.
However, Man United are planning to offload him as soon as the season comes to an end but it looks like no one is majorly interested in signing the multiple-time UCL winner.
Casemiro was brought into Old Trafford for an initial fee of around £60 million and he still has two-and-a-half years left on his current contract but if Manchester United want to sell him in the summer then the EPL side will have to be ready to sustain a massive loss.
Even Fabrizio Romano has revealed that INEOS want Casemiro gone but his huge wage bill is likely to be a big stumbling block.
“I also wanted to address once again some stories about INEOS and Casemiro. We previously heard reports that Ratcliffe wasn’t happy with the signing of Casemiro, and now there’s speculation that they want him off the wage bill,” Romano has told exclusively to Caught Off Side.
“Despite many stories, I have no concrete updates so far on Casemiro’s future. He’s on big wage yes, I can’t mention the exact numbers, but he’s on huge salary; and I think it’s also normal as he was joining from Real Madrid as one of the best midfielders in the world for many years.”
Last season, Casemiro was brilliant in the middle of the pitch but he’s slowly turning into a liability for Erik ten Hag so this is the perfect time to get rid of him. Kobbie Mainoo is looking like the long-term heir to the Brazilian international and for the next couple of months, Ten Hag will want the youngster to properly settle down so that he can green-light Casemiro’s exit in the summer.
As things stand, the Saudi Pro League looks the most realistic destination for the United misfit because that’s the only league that can afford to meet Casemiro’s current wage demands. Anything other than that and the 31-year-old will have to be ready to take a massive pay cut.
