Social media hits back at criticism of Man United signing 30-year-old Casemiro

  /  autty

Manchester United supporters have taken to social media to question that criticism surrounding the news of the club agreeing a deal for Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro.

The Brazilian has won just about every major honour available to him during his nine years in the Spanish capital, and will join United following one of his most successful seasons for Los Blancos as played 48 games across all competitions and picked up his fifth Champions League winner's medal.

With the move coming after Erik ten Hag missed out on signing top target 25-year-old Frenkie de Jong, some social media users claimed that the move for Casemiro will not prove to be the long-term answer to United's problems with @danielstorey85 calling it: 'indicative of short-termism driven by self-inflicted emergency.'

United supporters hit back on twitter, pointing out several Premier League stars who have continued performing at the highest level well into their 30s, and questioned why other club's players do not receive the same backlash.

@R_o_M questioned why Man City did receive a similar backlash for agreeing a new deal with 31-year-old Kevin De Bruyne:

'When De Bruyne, who is older than Casemiro, signed a contract to keep him at City until 2025, I don’t remember anyone questioning his age. Maybe I missed it? Mad how the smallest thing becomes a massive deal when it’s United'

Another Twitter user also noted a perceived hypocrisy from opposing fans:

'Casemiro is younger than De Bruyne, Van Dijk, Mahrez, Gundogan, Thiago, Henderson, Koulibaly. The same age as Son, Coutinho, Isco & Mané & only a few months older than Lingard, Lukaku, Rudiger. Perspective for that nonsense age remark against him many are pushing.'

@EthanTalks added: 'Koulibaly (32 years old) = “Great signing”. Casemiro (30 years old) = “Not the right profile, too old, shirt seller”.'

Not all United fans were quite so positive about their new signing however, with one Twitter user unfavorably comparing the move for Casemiro to United's signing of Bastian Schweinsteiger:

'Signing a 30 year old with no resell value from a club that don’t need to sell players is alarming. Seems we have learned nothing from Schweinsteiger…'

Schweinsteiger had severed as an integral member of the all-conquering Bayern Munich side of the 2000s, and had recently won the World Cup when he joined United.

The midfielder was just a month short of his 31st birthday when he made the move to Old Trafford in 2015, and was seen at the time as a coup for the club under Louis van Gaal.

Despite the hype surrounding his arrival, Schweinsteiger would struggle to establish himself in United's squad, and after the arrival of Jose Mourinho the following year would find himself frozen out at the club.

But not all United fans agreed that comparing United's signing of Casemiro to that of Schweinsteiger was fair.

@jabbathesutt wrote: 'Schweinsteiger made 28 appearances in the season before we signed him. Coz he had dodgy knees. Casemiro has just come off the back of a 48 game season and does not have dodgy knees.'

Another user agreed: 'Thanks, couldn’t said better myself. This age of 30s is completely different, the training/ nutrition/ medical, I’m quite sure the Schweinsteiger thing won’t happen again. Question is, does United possesses the facilities & expertise in house?'

United have endured their worst ever start to a Premier League season this campaign and currently sit bottom of the table.

A humiliating 4-0 defeat to Brentford last weekend highlighted a lack of physicality in Ten Hag's squad, an attribute that Casemiro will be able to provide in spades.

United supporters will be hoping for an improved performance when they attempt to pick up their first league points of the season against Liverpool at Old Trafford on Monday.

Related: Chelsea Manchester United Manchester City Real Madrid De Bruyne Casemiro Koulibaly
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