Tim Sherwood has lauded Casemiro in the wake of Manchester United's Carabao Cup win and admitted he was wrong to question the multi-time Champions League winner following his summer switch.
Casemiro, 31, has quickly established himself as one of the club's most influential players since quitting Real Madrid and produced another fine display in Sunday's League Cup final, where he scored Manchester United's opening goal in the 2-0 win over Newcastle.
Erik ten Hag turned to Casemiro after the club's summer-long pursuit of Frenkie de Jong failed to bear fruit. Some people, including Sherwood, had doubts over whether or not Casemiro still had the "hunger" to achieve more after winning a glut of trophies with Real Madrid. However, the Sky Sports pundit has conceded that he got it wrong with the Brazilian international.
Sherwood told Premier League Productions: “When first come, I thought he’s [Casemiro] came to Man United to fill the till up. He’s done everything at Real Madrid he can’t possibly have the hunger.
“I was so wrong, so wrong. When that equaliser he scored at Stamford Bridge you saw the way he celebrated with Man United fans, from that moment onwards I knew this boy was the real deal. He’s incredible. He puts out fires, any sorts of danger he puts it out, but he can also play.”
Sherwood concluded: “Someone coming in with that desire at his age, you have to take your hat off to him.”
Although Sherwood has backtracked on his original stance, the former Tottenham and QPR manager was from the only person to question why Casemiro decided to sign up for the mammoth rebuilding project at Old Trafford - especially as the midfielder had won a hatful of trophies during his time at the Bernabeu.
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Victory on Sunday ended a six-year trophy drought for Manchester United, who are still in the Premier League title race and alive in both the FA Cup and the Europa League.
Casemiro was at the heart of the celebrations at Wembley and insisted after the match that he joined the club to win more trophies - hinting that he was always confident the club was capable of recovering from their calamitous 2021/22 campaign and challenging for major honours sooner rather than later.
"I left a great club, came to England and people wondered why,” Casemiro said after Sunday's win. “Moments like these are the answer. We all know this is only the beginning, but it doesn't mean we can't be happy.
“It's one more trophy for me and I always welcome it, regardless of the competition. I celebrated a lot because I'm enjoying it here.”
