The Casemiro farewell tour at Man Utd is going strong, but Michael Carrick has again hinted things could’ve been different.
The decision to depart Man Utd at the end of the season was made well ahead of the end of the season by Casemiro.
His performances since have generated a feeling of sadness at Old Trafford because he’s clearly still capable of doing an elite job in top-level football.
Michael Carrick has again hinted that he might not have left the club had one thing happened earlier.
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Michael Carrick sheds role in Casemiro talks
Casemiro has become a huge favourite of Carrick, and the moments between the two, despite just ten games, have been heartwarming to see.
The Brazilian is his loyal soldier on the field, and the player has repaid that faith many times over in both boxes.
It’s clear how highly Carrick rates Casemiro, as he already hinted previously that Ineos made a mistake by letting Casemiro leave in the summer.
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Now, he’s gone a step further and washed his hands of the whole scenario that led to Casemiro’s departure from the club.
Carrick gave contract updates on Kobbie Mainoo, Harry Maguire, and more, and spoke about his role in everything, but drew a line when it came to Casemiro.
He said: “I think coming to the summer, there’s contracts, there’s all sorts of things that need [to be] sorted out.
“We’ll cross that bridge a little bit further down the line, but it’s great to have Harry sorted and clarity in that situation. [Casemiro] was a little bit kind of, it was before me really, so I wasn’t particularly involved in that.”
It’s clear that Carrick would have pushed harder for Casemiro to stay at the club had he been appointed earlier, especially now that he looks like the favourite to stay as manager beyond this season.
Carrick’s Casemiro stance could’ve been tricky
There’s no doubt about Casemiro’s quality as a player, even at this age, but that’s an entirely different discussion from whether United should have kept him.
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That’s because he is still one of the worst contracts on the books at the club as a legacy of the Glazer era mismanagement.
It’s unlikely that United wouldn’t even have tried to talk to Casemiro about a renewal, so that the two parties were clearly far apart in their demands.
Therefore, Carrick’s backing could have made a straightforward decision for United a bit tricky, because the extension on his current terms didn’t make sense financially.
Effectively, the decision being made before Carrick’s arrival worked out perfectly since it avoided a tricky situation. Letting Casemiro leave was always the right decision, regardless of his performances.
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