Ahead of Manchester United's 2-1 win against Liverpool, the club brought their new signing Casemiro onto the pitch to introduce him to the match-going fans. The Brazilian has joined from Real Madrid for £60m potentially rising to £70m this summer and has finally addressed their issues at defensive midfield.
By bringing in Casemiro, the club has reunited him with his former Real Madrid teammates Cristiano Ronaldo and more importantly Raphael Varane. And the French defender has already been incredibly complimentary of his former teammate.
Varane said: "I know perfectly his quality. He can bring this balance to the team and his mentality. He's a warrior, so I think he will really enjoy the English football. It was a perfect night for him to meet Old Trafford because the atmosphere was absolutely amazing, and he brings us a victory, so it’s nice.”
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Casemiro has responded in kind, praising both Varane and also his Brazil teammate Fred in his first interview with the club media saying: “He [Raphael Varane] tells me he’s happy. His family is very happy here in Manchester and I feel Manchester United have a great centre-back in him and, as we know."
This is a partnership that needs to flourish for United to succeed this season. While it is impossible for them to reach the highs of the four Champions Leagues they won together at Madrid, they can help Erik ten Hag earn a top-four finish and potentially win the European competition one notch down: the Europa League.
United conceded a record number of goals last season under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick. This and results like the 4-0 loss to Brentford in the second Premier League game of season can not happen again.
Casemiro will protect the centre-backs against transitions. Too many times over the past few seasons the centre-backs have been left isolated after the midfield has lost possession and been unable to win it back, so the Brazilian's presence will be a welcome sight for Varane, but also Lisandro Martinez, Harry Maguire and United's full-backs.
How often we will see Varane and Casemiro on the same pitch is yet to be seen, not only because fans do not know how often Ten Hag will look to rotate his team this season with a congested fixture list, but also due to the Frenchman's problematic injury record which saw him miss around a hefty chunk of games last season.
Only time will tell whether this Real Madrid partnership will bring the same pedigree to Old Trafford as they did to the Bernabeu but at least on paper, this seems like a great start to a solid spine.
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