Casemiro's incredible Brazil record with Fred

Karan Tejwani

• 22 Aug 2022 14:10 BST
• 3 min read

Manchester United have agreed a deal with Real Madrid for the signing of Casemiro, ending a long-standing search for a defensive midfielder.

Casemiro has established himself as one of the world’s best in that position for Real Madrid, contributing to five Champions League successes between 2014 and 2022.

Now, he’s set to play at Old Trafford after the club quickly moved to complete his transfer, getting him in on a four-year deal with an option to extend for a further year.

Luckily, he has a good rapport with one midfielder already at Manchester United: national team-mate Fred, who he’s played with for a few years on the international scene with Brazil.

Casemiro's encouraging record with Fred

The two have played 17 matches together for the Selecao, winning 15 of those, losing one and drawing the other, putting up an encouraging record together.

In those 17 matches they played, Brazil conceded just five goals, and kept 13 clean sheets as they worked at the heart of coach Tite’s midfield.

Erik ten Hag will be hoping the pair can recreate that form at Manchester United and elevate others around them such as Bruno Fernandes, Christian Eriksen and Scott McTominay.

The signing will help the midfield problems several Manchester United managers have faced in the past: neither Fred nor McTominay are defensive midfielders, instead preferring to play higher up the pitch.

Fred, in particular, was often used in that role in his early days at Manchester United, but should be boosted up with Casemiro’s arrival set to be finalized.

This will also be encouraging for Brazil boss Tite, who has kept both in the team for a few years and will be hoping they can maintain their form ahead of the World Cup in Qatar in the winter.

Casemiro won’t feature in Manchester United’s match against Liverpool, but could make his debut at the weekend when Ten Hag’s side travel to the south coast to face Southampton.