Gary Neville issues fresh Casemiro verdict as another Manchester United star tipped to leave | OneFootball

Man Utd set to act in transfer market amid midfield departures

Gary Neville has insisted that Casemiro’s pending departure from Manchester United is still the right thing to do.

The Red Devils announced in January that the Brazilian would be leaving the club in the summer when his contract expired.

The 34-year-old has spent almost four years at Old Trafford, and netted in United’s 3-1 win over Aston Villa at the weekend, bringing him up to seven Premier League goals for the campaign.

He has undergone a resurgence under Michael Carrick, forming a solid partnership with Kobbie Mainoo in a 4-2-3-1 shape.

Despite his upturn in form - and United fans calling for him to stay for “one more year” following the victory against Villa - Neville, the former United right-back, believes that his exit will still come at the right time.

"Obviously, United got him at the latter part of his career. He was an exceptional central midfield player that played in one of the most dominant midfields that you'll ever see at Real Madrid," Neville said.

"But it's right that United do let him go, and it's right that he does leave United. This is like a cameo at the end of his career. Almost like a swansong where he's probably loving every minute, and you can see it.

"He's kissing his badge, the fans absolutely love him, and it's right that he does leave at the end of the season.

"His legs at times have let him down. What I would say is there's a period in the middle of his four-year contract where he looked heavier in his body and I don't know what happened there.”

Neville identified United’s heavy investment into the ageing Brazilian as a prime example of the club’s “poor recruitment” in recent years.

"This is nothing to do with Casemiro, this is to do with United's poor recruitment over many, many years and them overpaying," Neville continued.

"They've invested £140million in Casemiro, £20m a year in wages and £60m in a fee, that's not a clever move because they're now losing him for nothing.

"If you're spending £140m on a midfield player over four years, you'd expect that there'd be some sort of residual value at the end of it. You wouldn't be expecting that he would be running his career down. It's not a deal they would do now.

"You can't say it's been a great investment at £140m, but that's not Casemiro's fault."

Now, United will look to strengthen their engine room in the summer transfer window, and they could be in the market for two additions, with Neville believing that Manuel Ugarte is also likely to move on.

“The centre of midfield is a problem,” he added.

“When they’re playing deeper in the FA Cup, Carabao Cup and the Champions League, they’re going to need three or four really good midfielders.

Mainoo is one that you can really buy into, but you can’t look at any of the others and think that that’s going to work.

“Casemiro is leaving and I think Ugarte will leave. They’re going to need two central midfielders; one that’s more positional - like a Carrick - and one that’s more of a destroyer. That’s the next area of focus.”