Erik ten Hag revealed he had spoken to Casemiro to explain his reasoning for signing another holding midfielder as the Brazilian prepares for a battle with Manuel Ugarte to get into the Manchester United team.
Casemiro endured a disappointing second season at the club after his £60m move from Real Madrid and his reputation took a further battering two weeks ago when he was at fault for both of Liverpool's first-half goals in their 3-0 win at Old Trafford.
The 32-year-old was taken off at half-time and replaced by 20-year-old league debutant Toby Collyer. He was linked with a move to Turkey during the international break, with their transfer window only closing this coming Wednesday, but he is keen to stay and fight for his place. ALSO READ: United have £136m of talent waiting to transform Ten Hag's fortunes ALSO READ: 'I'm not afraid' - Ten Hag launches strong defence of Matthijs de Ligt Ten Hag sees Ugarte's £42m deadline day arrival from Paris Saint-Germain as a move that will add competition to the squad, with two players now capable of playing the holding midfield role, but he did hold discussions with five-time Champions League winner Casemiro to explain his thinking. "I normally do talk to him and in this case I did as well but players in our club know you are playing at this level there is always competition, they also know you can only be successful if you have a squad that covers," said Ten Hag. "You can’t have a squad where you only have one player who can cover this – you need at least two for each position, sometimes it is three for two.
That is okay when you have very robust players. "All the players will understand – then it’s about what is the best fit for the team.