Man Utd transfer has Casemiro feeling ‘like a kid’ as Brazilian stars on the back of Real Madrid move

• South American joined Red Devils for £60m
• Made an immediate impact
• Enjoying his football in England

WHAT HAPPENED? The Brazil international completed a £60 million ($74m) move to Old Trafford from Real Madrid during the summer of 2022, with the 30-year-old walking away from Santiago Bernabeu as a five-time Champions League winner. Questions were asked of whether Casemiro could make a decisive impact in English football, but he has sparked United’s engine room into life while becoming a talismanic presence for Erik ten Hag’s side.

WHAT THEY SAID: Casemiro has said of a fresh start breathing new life into his game: “When you arrive at a new club, you always dream of making history… especially if we see the greatness of this club. We know the history. But of course, I was aware of needing some time to adapt and of the rivals having a long-term plan before ours, like Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool. They all have managers that have been there for a while and, therefore, they have an advantage. I’m happy with my adaptation here, my team-mates and the staff are really helping me… also with the English language, it’s been quite hard but I’m really trying to get better.”

He added: “Everyone here has been lovely with me and since the first day I feel at home here. I appreciate all the effort that the club has done to bring me here, John (Murtough) included. I’m very comfortable at Manchester United, extremely happy to be here and enjoying every moment like a 15-year-old kid! But the most important is to see the team growing.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Casemiro has helped to make United competitive at the very highest level once more, with greater consistency added to their game, and he registered two goals – taking him to four for the club overall – during a 3-1 win over Reading in the FA Cup fourth round.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? United have more big games approaching, with their run through to the middle of February including the second leg of a Carabao Cup semi-final clash with Nottingham Forest, back-to-back Premier League meetings with old adversaries Leeds and a trip to Camp Nou to face Barcelona in the first leg of a Europa League knockout play-off.