Real Madrid look set to sell Casemiro to Manchester United in a bumper deal which could earn the player over €70m over the length of his contract.
The Brazilian is torn through no reason other than money - he's being offered a lot of it. And Real Madrid may think that now is the right time to cash in on a player who is now the wrong side of 30.
And with Eduardo Camavinga and new arrival Aurelien Tchouameni waiting in the wings to break into that incredible midfield three alongside Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, Los Blancos may feel they are well covered in that department.
But they're not.
Casemiro defensive midfield stats, 21/22
Casemiro is one of the most unsung defensive midfielders in the game. As the below interactive graphic shows, Cas remains, by some distance, the most effective preventative midfielder in La Liga, via SCISports' analysis.
Interact with the graphic by hovering over each dot to show which player is referenced
In fact, he's been either top or in the top three for prevention in the past four seasons, and Real Madrid are choosing to give this away.
Casemiro remains an utterly integral part of the Real Madrid unit and though it can be difficult to convince a player to stay that wants a 'new challenge', it should not be underestimated that this is a deal that could disrupt Madrid in a way they don't yet know.
FemiBalogun
94
if you know more about football business then you will agree with real Madrid that this is the best time to sell casemiro as no club will pay such amount of money for him in the next 3years when his contract will expire, casemiro have won everything with Madrid and he and Madrid have nothing to lose in the transfer, Madrid will receive €70m for a player they bought with €3.5m, casemiro will receive almost double of his Madrid salary in man united,this is the best time for casemiro to make money after he already won many trophies. people should learn with what is happening to Barcelona right now, they failed to part way with pique, Alba busquets, Roberto at the right time, now all of them are extorting money from Barcelona and contribute almost nothing to the club right now.