Gary Neville says £50.5m Man Utd midfielder ‘will leave’ and sends brutal message about Casemiro decision: ‘Not a clever move’ | OneFootball

Gary Neville believes that Manchester United midfielder Manuel Ugarte will leave at the end of the season, with the Sky Sports pundit also sharing his opinion on whether the Red Devils’ co-owners, INEOS, should make a U-turn on Casemiro’s future.

Ugarte joined Man Utd from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2024 for a transfer fee that could reach £50.5million (€58.5m, $67m). The Uruguay international midfielder signed a five-year contract with Man Utd at the time, with the option to extend it for a further 12 months.

Much was expected of Ugarte when he moved to Old Trafford, but the 24-year-old midfielder has been largely underwhelming.

The Uruguay international has made only 67 appearances for Man Utd so far in his career, scoring two goals and providing six assists in the process.

Earlier this month, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano claimed that Ugarte could leave Man Utd in the summer of 2026.

Romano revealed that Ugarte ‘could assess options’ at the end of the season, with clubs in Italy interested in him.

Former Man Utd defender Neville believes that, along with Casemiro, Ugarte’s days at Old Trafford are numbered and has urged INEOS to sign two new central midfield players in the summer transfer window.

Neville told Sky Sports: “Utd need two central midfield players in the summer.”

The pundit continued: “The centre of midfield is a problem.

“I think, to be fair, Mainoo and Casemiro are doing a great job right now for Michael Carrick.

“However, every Utd fan in this stadium knows that it’s going to be nowhere near enough when Manchester United start playing in the Champions League next season, which is more than likely they will, and they don’t get knocked out of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup in the first round.

“So, when they play further in the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup and in the Champions League, they are going to need three or four really good midfield players.

“At the moment, you have got Mainoo that’s a midfield player who I know you can definitely sort of buy into, but you can’t really look at the any others and think that’s going to work.

“Casemiro is leaving, Ugarte I think will leave, so they need two really good central midfield players.

“Probably, probably one that’s more positional, maybe like a Michael Carrick-type, and one that’s maybe more of a destroyer.

“So, I think basically they need those two players.”

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‘It’s right’ Casemiro is leaving – Gary Neville

While Casemiro officially announced in January 2026 that he will leave this summer, some Man Utd fans are hopeful that the former Real Madrid star will make a U-turn.

There were chants from some Man Utd fans at Old Trafford during the Premier League match against Aston Villa on Sunday for the 34-year-old to stay for one more season.

Casemiro scored one of the goals for Man Utd and was a dominant force in the middle of the park.

Under Man Utd interim manager Michael Carrick, the former Madrid star has been superb and has been playing extremely well.

However, Neville believes that Man Utd co-owners, INEOS, are right to let the midfielder leave at the end of the season and believes that it was wrong of the club in the first place to sign him.

Neville said about Casemiro: “Obviously, Manchester United got him at the latter part of his career.

“What he was, is an exceptional central midfield player that played in one of the most dominant midfields that you’ll ever see at Real Madrid.

“But it’s right that Utd do let him go, and it’s right that he does leave Utd.

“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 to the fans. 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 looks heavier in his body, and I don’t know what happened there.

“Whether it’s the training, whether it’s something that’s happened with him or whatever, I don’t know.

“But he looks fitter, he looks leaner, he looks freer and look, he’s doing a great job.”

Neville added: “This is nothing to do with Casemiro, this is to do with Man Utd’s poor recruitment over many, many years and them overpaying.

“They’ve invested £140m 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.”

Meanwhile, Man Utd are said to be ready to raid Athletic Bilbao for one of their best wingers in the summer transfer window.