It was two years ago that Jamie Carragher offered Casemiro a rather withering piece of advice: “Leave the football before the football leaves you.” Fast forward to this season and the Brazilian’s record for Manchester United reads: nine goals (second only to Benjamin Sesko), two assists, and 2,417 minutes played in 31 starts from a total of 32 appearances, with 13 games finished, including seven of the past nine.
Consider, too, how the January announcement of Casemiro’s departure from United at the end of the current campaign has led to supporters pleading with the 34-year-old to stay, and that Casemiro is again a midfield first-choice for his national team in the buildup to a World Cup.
As ripostes to a pundit advising you to retire go, Casemiro’s has been emphatic, not to mention revealing of a strong character given Carragher’s words, delivered on Monday Night Football following United’s 4-0 defeat at Crystal Palace in May 2024, came at a time when Casemiro did indeed appear to be heading for an Old Trafford exit amid a downturn in his performances. As Carragher also said: “Casemiro should know tonight that he should only have another three games left at the top level.”
United, then under the charge of Erik ten Hag, were open to selling a player who was two seasons into a four-year contract, earning close to £365,000-a-week. Indeed the previous October, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, United’s co-owner, had even gone as far as citing Casemiro as an example of what he viewed as questionable recruitment by the club. A nadir was then reached in January 2025 when across five league matches – against Liverpool, Arsenal, Southampton, Brighton and Fulham – Casemiro remained an unused substitute, with Toby Collyer preferred by Ruben Amorim, Ten Hag’s successor, to enter the fray and try to aid the team.
There then came a reprieve for Casemiro in the shape of Amorim prioritising United’s Europa League challenge. Casemiro was handed league starts at Tottenham in February, and again away to Everton. He impressed and so was named in the starting XI for both legs of the Europa League last-16 win over Real Sociedad, and then again for both legs of the quarter-final victory against Lyon, the semi-final defeat of Athletic Bilbao and the final loss to Tottenham.
“I’m learning how to use players like Casemiro,” Amorim said during this time. “In the beginning he was behind every midfielder, even Toby [Collyer], but he fought and he worked, and now he is back in the national team.” Amorim admitted he got it wrong about a five-times Champions League-winner and, eventually, so did Carragher, with the former Liverpool defender performing a U-turn in February. “It is now fair to say the football has not left him, considering what he’s producing this season in the Premier League,” he said.
What explanation, then, for the upturn of performances by a player in his mid-30s, a period in life when physicality is meant to catch up with a professional footballer, particularly a No 6 having to operate in the relentless environment of England’s top flight? One factor would appear to be improved fitness. Under Michael Carrick, he is also part of a far better United side, more on the front foot and in control of proceedings, and, as such, requiring less hard running of ageing legs.
The fact Carrick played in Casemiro’s exact role for United at 12 years and until he was into his late 30s means the player also has a far more sympathetic, understanding and appreciative manager. As Carrick said: “With a lot of experience you are trusting them to know themselves and [you] speak to them on a level where there’s an understanding there. With Case that’s been the case; knowing what he’s good at and his strengths and what he can bring to the team.
“It takes a lot of sacrifice and a lot of work to play for a long time. I was personally proud of sustaining it for a long period – to do what he’s done over a long period of time takes a lot of work and deserves a lot of credit.”
After United’s 2-1 win against Brentford on Monday, Carrick confirmed Casemiro will not change his mind about leaving. In his 35th year this is, surely, prudent. Indeed, all concerned only have to look at Mohamed Salah’s drop-off for Liverpool, the team United face on Sunday, as proof of that. It is a cautionary tale.
By departing in the close season, Casemiro is ensuring he is leaving football before it leaves him. At elite level, anyway, with the player expected to continue elsewhere, possibly in Major League Soccer or in Saudi Arabia.