Sofyan Amrabat can help prove Roy Keane right about Casemiro at Manchester United

You have to be some player to get Manchester United hero Roy Keane purring in the studio.

The iconic former United midfielder and captain has had precious little to gloat about over the past few years. However, among the sharp-tongued rants Keane often reserves for his former side, one man is regularly spared.

Casemiro was not the signing United initially wanted last summer. But he was the one they needed.

Erik ten Hag tried and failed to tempt former Ajax star Frenkie de Jong into a Manchester reunion. At times, that garishly public chase threatened to undermine the whole recruitment drive - but United firmly landed on their feet when Casemiro pitched up from Spanish giants Real Madrid.

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United possibly paid over the odds to get the serial trophy winner. Given the club's long-standing problems in the engine room, though, that probably looked to be a bargain when silverware returned last season.

Keane was not the only one to wax lyrical about him as Casemiro quickly underlined his worth to United with colossal individual performances. He instantly became the most important player for Ten Hag and that tag was emphasised whenever the talismanic 31-year-old missed out through suspension.

Yet his impact was not just individual, as Keane explained. Speaking about Casemiro last season, the Irishman said: "He's a huge player for them. Sometimes you realise how good a player is when he's not in the team.

"He's a big personality, has won big trophies before. He affects games, very good defensively and he's pretty good on the ball, let me tell you. He makes players around him better and that's what the