Aston Villa could prevent Man Utd from signing ideal Casemiro replacement

Cameron Smith

• Updated: 23 Feb 2024 22:43 GMT
• 3 min read

Aston Villa are set to rival Manchester United, Newcastle United and Atletico Madrid in the race to sign Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Exequiel Palacios, according to reports.

Palacios, 25, has enjoyed a fantastic campaign with Leverkusen and he is now being chased by numerous clubs across Europe.

According to Christian Falk, Aston Villa, Man Utd, Newcastle and Atletico Madrid are all interested in signing him this summer, while Diego Simeone’s side also want to sign Leverkusen defender Piero Hincapie too.

Villa’s interest will come as little surprise given the fact that Douglas Luiz is Arsenal’s number one midfield summer target and the Brazilian could leave Villa Park at the end of the 2023-24 season.

However, Palacios is currently well-suited for a move to Man Utd.

Ezequiel Palacios: Perfect for Man Utd?

According to data analytics experts SciSports, Bayern Munich rank as his most well-suited club. The Bavarians register a Club Fit score of 83, narrowly beating out Leverkusen and Manchester United (82).

Although Bayern are judged to be slightly more suited for Palacios, a move to Old Trafford also makes sense.

The 25-year-old has proven his talent at Bayer Leverkusen and if Xabi Alonso departs this summer, to join Liverpool or Bayern, there is a high chance that several top talents may leave the club, which could entice Palacios into an exit.

As a result, given Man Utd are interested, he makes sense as a Casemiro replaceme.t

Since returning from injury in late January, the Brazilian has received a yellow card in four of his five Man Utd appearances, with his rash tackling becoming a problem.

Furthermore, that record extends to six yellow cards in his last seven appearances for club and country, dating back to October.

Ten Hag simply cannot afford to go down to 10 men in any match as Man Utd look to hunt down fourth place, and Casemiro can’t be trusted in this regard.

In his last four Premier League appearances, Casemiro has been dribbled past a combined 14 times, whereas his midfield partner Kobbie Mainoo has been dribbled past on seven occasions during the same time period.

His tackle numbers are more impressive than the Englishman’s, but he is too easy to bypass and often looks to bring down opponents as a result.

It's an indication that Casemiro’s powers are waning at an alarming level and Man Utd must sign a replacement this summer.

However, if Aston Villa are smart, they will beat Man Utd to Palacios’ signature just in case the aforementioned Luiz departs the club for Arsenal.