Before the recent signing of Casemiro, the last time Manchester United signed a defensive midfielder was in 2017 when they secured the signature of Nemanja Matic from Chelsea for £40m. It became apparent over the next few years that while he was technically secure, the Serbian was physically declining.
This is why many fans had reservations about the club spending £70m on Casemiro. At 30 years old he has shown no sign of declining so far but this might be the case over the next few years.
However right now United have one of the best defensive midfielders in world football and after earning his visa he will likely make his debut against Southampton. And although Matic began to decline after his first season, his debut against West Ham United set the tone for what will be expected of the Brazilian on Saturday.
