Man Utd transfer: Al Nassr ‘want to sign’ £60m Ten Hag buy ‘at the request of Cristiano Ronaldo’ | OneFootball

Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr ‘want’ Manchester United midfielder Casemiro after Cristiano Ronaldo ‘requested’ the signing, according to reports.

Casemiro was signed by Erik ten Hag for around £60million in August 2022 after the Dutch manager failed to bring in Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona.

His debut campaign at Old Trafford was outstanding, playing a pivotal role in the Red Devils’ third-place finish in the Premier League and their Carabao Cup title.

The Brazilian started the 2023/24 season very slowly, however, and has only just returned from a lengthy injury, making the bench in last weekend’s Premier League draw against Tottenham.

There has been a lot of speculation surrounding Casemiro’s future in England with interest coming from Saudi Arabia.

, despite his impact last term, and his sharp decline means Ten Hag is open to selling this month.

It is unclear how much United will be able to make from the sale of Casemiro but getting him off the wage bill will probably be good enough for Ten Hag and Ratcliffe.

Talk of an exit has quietened down in recent weeks but it has been reported by Foot Mercato that Al Nassr superstar Ronaldo has ‘requested’ they sign his former United and Real Madrid team-mate.

The main focus of the report is Seko Fofana, who can leave Al Nassr in the January transfer window to free up space for another foreign player.

It is believed that the plan is to add goalkeeper David Ospina but the report claims the Saudi club ‘want to sign Casemiro at the request of Cristiano Ronaldo’.

A boost for all parties is that Casemiro ‘is interested’ in taking on the challenge in the Middle East.

Should the 31-year-old make the move to Saudi Arabia, he will be joining a league “more competitive than Ligue 1”, according to Ronaldo.

Speaking on Friday, the Portuguese legend said: “Saudi Pro League is more competitive than Ligue 1, I can say that after one year spent there.

“We are better than French league already now.”

This echoes comments from Neymar – who left Paris Saint-Germain for Al Hilal last summer – in September.