Carrick to replace Casemiro at Manchester United as ‘future £100m’ star

Manchester United remain unbeaten under Michael Carrick’s transformational return.

Of course, the Red Devils were favored to win against Thomas Frank’s Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. Spurs are currently in 15th place in the Premier League table and are in the midst of a terrible run of form.

But even when things were going well, Ruben Amorim’s United side were prone to poor results in front of the Old Trafford crowd. Remember when Amorim’s side opened 2025 with a 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers?

Thankfully, the atmosphere changed completely under Carrick’s interim reign, with the Red Devils winning 2-0 and completing their fourth successive Premier League win for the first time since Erik ten Hag’s eventful era.

Bruno Fernandes deservedly took most of the credit for scoring the game-clinching second goal after the full-time whistle and creating six big chances, but Casemiro continued his late resurgence in Manchester, producing another classy action against the North London visitors.

The numbers behind Casemiro’s comeback

It feels like a lifetime ago when Casemiro was rejected by the likes of Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher as having Premier League experience.

Confidence is clearly coursing through United’s veins and the former Real Madrid superstar is once again showing off his pedigree with a calm and controlled performance when he was left out of the starting XI by Amorim for several weeks.

Remarkably, the icy Brazilian broke through from a midfield position against Fulham in early February, setting up Matheus Cunha for his second goal of the match with a no-look pass after Casemiro himself had broken the deadlock.

Against Arsenal and Manchester City, the 33-year-old didn’t look too long at all considering he’s entering the twilight years of a long career in which Carrick’s side won eight duels to ensure they upset the Premier League’s top two teams.

For Casemiro’s sake, he will be just happy to be able to leave the Theater of Dreams in a great mood. However, it is necessary to find a replacement.

Manchester United’s in-house Casemiro replacement

Of course, Casemiro will not be the only player to leave at the end of the season, with Carrick also leaving after his short stint as manager ends. However, if he can maintain his form, he will certainly be discussed as a permanent option post-Amorim.

But it wasn’t just the South American veteran who came alive under the Englishman’s newfound aggressiveness, with Coby Mainu also looking like a different animal in the midfield ranks next to Casemiro, who had been marginalized under the previous regime.

Maybe United don’t need to spend big on players like Elliott Anderson or Carlos Baleva to replace Casemiro. The 20-year-old has so far emerged as an equally classy yet steely midfield operator in games against Spurs and Fulham in February this year.

His recent performances have been very outstanding and he is once again starting to live up to the hype once given to him by journalist Alex Turk, as he has developed into a “£100m-plus footballer” and is certainly someone who can fill the void left by Casemiro’s departure.

Mainu was incredibly calm with the ball at his feet against Frank’s men, averaging a passing accuracy of 94% from 100 touches. He was also a key figure in the deft corner that set up Brian Mbeumo’s opening goal, and the homegrown youngster will no doubt be delighted with his contribution to his second goal of the season.

However, he was also able to fight and compete when required, with a heartbreaking 14 duels won in both home wins, confirming Carrick’s faith in him. He was such a revelation under Carrick that BBC sports reporter Simon Stone labeled Amorim’s decision to kick him out of the first team as “ridiculous”.

At just 20 years old, he was previously hailed as the ‘maestro’ of midfield by Statman Dave, and is clearly the long-term solution to Casemiro’s departure.

With the midfield reshuffle scheduled to be carried out at the Theater of Dreams in the off-season attracting attention, the question is whether United will have full confidence in Maynou to continue his good form next season.