Ratcliffe ‘questions’ Man Utd transfer; ‘internal pressure’ revealed after snub of £120m Arsenal star

According to reports, Sir Jim Ratcliffe ‘questioned’ Manchester United’s decision to sign Casemiro when he visited Old Trafford earlier this year.

The Red Devils paid an initial fee of around £60m to sign Casemiro from Spanish giants Real Madrid during last year’s summer transfer window.

The Brazil international was pursued as a last-minute alternative after they failed to sign Frenkie de Jong from FC Barcelona.

Man Utd‘s decision to spend such a huge fee on a player in his 30s has rightly come under massive scrutiny, but he was one of their best players last season.

United’s naysayers have been proven right during the early stages of this season as Casemiro has been a shadow of his best self and has missed much of this campaign through injury.

With the benefit of hindsight, it’s easy to argue now that Man Utd would have been better off signing a younger alternative to Casemiro and they were being heavily linked with Declan Rice before he joined Arsenal earlier this year for around £105m.

Arsenal themselves were questioned for spending this much on Rice, but this signing has already been justified as the England international has been one of the most influential players in the Premier League this season.

A detailed report from The Athletic’s Laurie Whitwell claims ‘the decision to go for Casemiro, a different profile of midfielder to De Jong, was taken despite some internal resistance’. He explains.

‘It was calculated that signing Declan Rice from West Ham United for £120million, as an example, would have been better for United’s long-term financial-fair-play (FFP) prospects than bringing in Casemiro, then aged 30, for half the fee.

‘Rice’s salary would have been significantly smaller than Casemiro’s earnings of around £350,000 per week and he could have signed a longer contract owing to his age, meaning the cost could have been amortised — or spread out — in the accounts over a longer period. Rice, then aged 23, also had potential resale value.

‘The Casemiro deal from Real Madrid is one Sir Jim Ratcliffe questioned during his tour of Carrington in March.’

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Whitwell later noted that Casemiro was targeted as Erik ten Hag ‘needed an immediate impact’ from his signing.

‘United went for Casemiro because Ten Hag needed an immediate impact and he was available having decided to leave Real Madrid after nine years.

‘United’s football department mapped out how he would fit in the team, delved into his injury record, and came to a unanimous decision to proceed.

‘At the time, West Ham were refusing to entertain offers for Rice and Ten Hag did not want to wait.

‘One source with knowledge of the process — who, like others in this article, is speaking on condition of anonymity to protect their position — believes a year’s work was crammed into three months in Ten Hag’s first summer.’