Cristiano Ronaldo ‘keen’ to reunite with Man Utd man with Al Nassr ‘hopeful’ of signing £60m star

Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly ‘keen’ for Al Nassr to sign Casemiro from Manchester United in the winter transfer window.

Casemiro and Ronaldo won 12 trophies together at Real Madrid before the latter left for Juventus in 2018.

Ronaldo returned to Man Utd in 2021 and was joined by his ex-Los Blancos team-mate a year later.

The Portuguese superstar’s contract was terminated by the Red Devils in November 2022, meaning their reunion was short and not very sweet.

Ronaldo signed for Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr after the World Cup in Qatar and is reportedly interested in playing with Casemiro at a third club.

Casemiro has been linked with the Saudi Pro League countless times since the start of the 2023/24 campaign and a move could finally materialise this month.

According to The Telegraph, Al Nassr are ‘hopeful’ they can land the Man Utd midfielder in the January window and are ‘the most likely destination’ for the player.

Ronaldo is ‘keen on the deal’ and the signing of Casemiro would indicate that the 39-year-old ‘intends to extend his own Al Nassr contract’ amidst speculation over a return to Europe, the report adds.

Having said Al Nassr are struggling to “compete with teams like Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad”, Ronaldo has hinted that he wants new signings brought in and ‘Casemiro would fit the bill’.

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The former Real Madrid and FC Porto midfielder ‘is open to the Saudi move and was last summer’ but an agreement could not be reached with Man Utd.

The report adds that Al Nassr have already sold Seko Fofana but are keen on offloading Anderson Talisca to help sign Casemiro.

Casemiro is on Al-Nassr’s list of targets with the club, based in the capital Riyadh, having created space for a foreign signing by selling Ivorian international midfielder Seko Fofana to French club Rennes for €20 million. They are also in talks for Brazilian midfielder Anderson Talisca to move to Turkey and join Fenerbahce.

That would mean Al-Nassr no longer being at their maximum quota of eight foreign players over the age of 21 in their squad. The number is limited by the SPL with every club in the league going into the January window needing to sell, deregister or terminate contracts if they want to buy.

Al-Nassr’s rivals, Al-Ittihad, who are also one of the big four clubs owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, had wanted to sign Casemiro last summer but are unable to make a move for him during this window.

It remains to be seen what kind of fee United would demand for Casemiro who joined them in the summer of 2022 for £60 million in a deal that has turned out to be a costly error.

There is understood to be an acceptance that Casemiro may need to move to continue his career and that the SPL is an appealing option.

Casemiro’s first season at the club was fantastic as he helped them win the Carabao Cup and finish third in the Premier League.

He seemed to age 20 years between the end of 2022/23 and start of 2023/24, however, and is ‘unlikely’ to be one of Ruben Amorim’s starting midfielders moving forward. Amorim appears to prefer Kobbie Mainoo and Manuel Ugarte in his midfield two.

Man Utd might be okay with selling Casemiro without receiving a fee with owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe very eager to offload his £350,000-a-week salary.

In terms of incomings, a new left-back is Amorim’s top priority. The report claims he wants to sign Paris Saint-Germain’s Nuno Mendes, who he managed at Sporting.

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