Casemiro - a football addict who can add balance to Man United, but will he leave Madrid?

Manchester United are trying to sign Brazilian midfielder Casemiro from Real Madrid.

The English club are believed to be prepared to pay around €70 million for one of the stars of Real Madrid’s recent success stories. The 63-cap Brazil international has been perfectly happy at Madrid, where he has an excellent relationship with manager Carlo Ancelotti, who considers him one of his main allies in the dressing room. Ancelotti even apologised to him for getting him wrong in his first spell in Madrid, when he loaned the player to Porto.

Casemiro, who moved to Madrid in 2013, has three years left on his Madrid contract - a figure sources tell The National amounts to €5 million-per-year after taxes for the 30-year-old. But it is up to Casemiro to get his head around the idea of his time at Madrid being over. United’s offer is believed to be substantially more than his current deal and his contract would run for four years.

Man-of-the-match in Madrid’s recent Uefa Super League success against Eintracht Frankfurt (Casemiro always starts his pre-season alone in Brazil with a trainer and physio), his club had no intention of selling him, but accept that their side is entering a new phase, with young French midfielders Eduardo Camavinga, 19, and Aurelien Tchouameni, 22, seen as the future in Casemiro’s midfield position.

Asked after last week’s Super Cup success if the arrival of Tchouameni for a fee that could grow to €100 million has stung Casemiro, Ancelotti, who has been affectionate with his Brazilian recently, said: “I have not asked him. The match wasn't complicated because he has watched the offensive transitions very well. Tchouameni is going to learn a lot and is going to improve a lot with Casemiro”.

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