Jainil Shah
Raphael Varane and Casemiro dilemma at Manchester United
The hopes of the Red Devils faithful were sky high when Manchester United announced the signatures of Raphael Varane and Casemiro severally from Real Madrid.
The Reds from Manchester appeared to have out-smart the market when they pulled off a £34 million move for French centre-back Raphael Varane from Real Madrid for in 2021. They shelled out £70 million on Casemiro a year later.
Surprisingly, both of the recruits from the Spanish giants have struggled to make their mark at Old Trafford with criticism aiming at their performances seeking the headlines almost every week.
Raphael Varane’s time at Old Trafford appears to be at its conclusion with the Frenchman expected to leave in the offseason when his contract expires at the club. While Casemiro has struggled with injury troubles this season missing three months through injury in the ongoing campaign.
The majority of supporters in the football world were surprised at the decision of Real Madrid letting leave two of their stars to Manchester United at the peak of their powers. Arsenal legend Thierry Henry thinks out loud the reasoning behind it.
Henry speaks about Madrid knowing the injury (knee) issues that Raphael Varane had before his move to Manchester United. He also spoke about Real knowing when to move on from their star players while citing several examples.
“There’s one thing you have to give them [Real Madrid] a lot of credit for, the ability they have to make sure they build a team with keeping some of the old guard with them to make sure that they can explain to the guys coming, the young guys coming”
– Henry speaking with CBS Sports
“If you look at it, if [Kylian] Mbappe goes there, they’re going to have a team that can be dominating Europe and dominating their league for maybe six to seven years because they’ll all be young.
“The one thing they do ever so well is they know when to get rid of players. I am not talking about the players that are logical to get rid of. I am talking about it was time for [Cristiano] Ronaldo.
“It was time for Casemiro. It was time for [Mesut] Ozil. It was time for Varane, which was more, I think, of a knee issue, if I understand well.
“But if you think about those three – [Luka] Modric, [Toni] Kroos and Casemiro – they sold the youngest one. Why would you sell the youngest one?
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“Well, they noticed that those two can help Valverde, Tchouameni, [Eduardo] Camavinga and they do that ever-so-well and you have to give them credit because when you get rid of the players that I mentioned before, they were outstanding players at that time for your team.”
While Henry speaks about moving players on, Manchester United can learn a thing or two from it as a mass exodus awaits in the upcoming transfer window.
While for Varane and Casemiro, it’s been calamitous spending for United. Both players have had their moments in a United shirt but that’s about it.
