Casemiro is in line for his Manchester United debut at Southampton on Saturday.
The Brazil international, who joined United from Real Madrid for a fee rising to £70million, has trained with the squad ahead of tomorrow lunchtime's kick-off. Anthony Martial is out of the trip to Saints with an Achilles injury, which could see Cristiano Ronaldo – dropped for the 2-1 win over Liverpool – restored to the starting line-up.
“Casemiro is fit, yeah,” said United boss Erik ten Hag. “He did all the training sessions, he trained individually, but in the last few days with the team. Anthony Martial came out with a problem on his Achilles, so he's out of the game. We have to wait, I cannot tell the prognosis, but I hope he will be available for the next game.”
After the victory over Liverpool, Ten Hag has called for his players to show the same attitude and spirit tomorrow. "We need to have a high standard,” said Ten Hag. “It's a demand to the group, to the players. The spirit was already good, now it is better. It's clear, it's one game, we have to build further on it and everyone is aware of that.
“I think it helps of course, because I said before the game Liverpool, especially last year, are the best football team in the world, and when you beat them it must give a lot of confidence, that's clear. We have to see the reward and match the runs, in and out of possession.
“If you want to dictate the game, you want to do it in possession and out of possession, and the organisation has to always be right.”
United are closing in on the £80million capture of Ajax forward Antony, but Ten Hag refused to be drawn on future arrivals. The United boss said: “I don't know. We need players, clearly, but we need the right players. The whole transfer window, we're happy with what we did until now, but the bar has to be high.”
