Wayne Rooney expresses doubts about Casemiro signing for Real Madrid | OneFootball

The transfer of Casemiro from Real Madrid to Manchester United caught almost everyone by surprise. The Brazilian midfielder has been an instrumental part of Los Blancos for years and having just won a Champions League with them, many were surprised that he would swap that for Europa League football.

News of United’s interest first broke on Tuesday and by Friday the deal was done. Many have wondered about the peculiar change in approach from the Red Devils given they had pursued a very different style of midfielder in Frenkie de Jong for much of the summer.

One of them is Wayne Rooney. Speaking to The Times, Caught Offside carried his opinions.

“This goes back to the need to look to the future.”

“Ideally, they should be signing players in their early to mid-twenties, and Casemiro is similar to Christian Eriksen — someone who has been a good player, but are they going to help the club move forward? Frenkie de Jong, Ten Hag’s principal midfield target, would be a better fit.”

“The Casemiro deal seems to have come from nowhere and looks like a reactive signing — I would be surprised if he was a player identified as a priority to bring in when ten Hag arrived.”

“It looks like, having been unable to sign de Jong, United just reacted to Casemiro being available.”

Real Madrid did not stand in Casemiro’s way when the opportunity presented itself and it follows Los Blancos’ lack of sentiment when it comes to veteran players. If the finances are not right for Real Madrid, or if they believe they are getting a good deal, Florentino Perez has demonstrated with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane that they are happy to let players go.

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