How Casemiro turned into a total liability for Man United, writes CHRIS WHEELER

When Casemiro was booked against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in January 2023, it immediately took the wind out of Manchester United’s sails.

Erik ten Hag’s side were a few minutes away from a 10th win in a row when their Brazilian kingpin was cautioned for a foul on Wilfried Zaha. Ten Hag and his teammates knew there and then that Casemiro would be banned for the trip to Arsenal four days later.

Visibly deflated, they conceded a late Michael Olise equaliser to Palace and then lost at the Emirates.

That’s how important Casemiro felt back then. A talisman for Ten Hag who was practically indispensable. ‘The cement between the stones,’ is how the United manager described him, and that didn’t feel like an understatement.

Fast forward 16 months and it looked like Casemiro was running in cement on his return to Selhurst Park, an even more miserable experience that ended with a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Olise and Co that has plunged Ten Hag’s future into even greater doubt.

Deployed once again as an emergency centre-back in the absence of seven defenders, the 32-year-old midfielder was ruthlessly exposed. The statistics show that he was dribbled past eight times, which is the most challenges lost by a player in a single Premier League game this season.

The sight of the five-time Champions League winner flailing in the wake of Olise and Jean-Philippe Mateta as they fired Palace two goals ahead was sad to behold.

If Sir Jim Ratcliffe needed any more evidence to want to offload the club’s highest-earner in the summer, here it was.

Mail Sport revealed in December that even Casemiro couldn’t believe how much United were prepared to pay him when they made their approach in the summer of 2022, offering Real Madrid a £70million transfer fee and the player – then 30 – a four-year contract on £375,000-a-week, such was their desperation to sign a world-class midfielder after missing out on Frenkie De Jong.

When Ineos began to assess the United squad before Ratcliffe’s £1.3billion investment, the Casemiro deal was held up as an example of how they wouldn’t want to do business if they got the keys to Old Trafford.

It was no surprise, therefore to see former football director John Murtough despatched to Saudi Arabia in December to tout Casemiro to the highest bidder.

A move to the Saudi Pro League, possibly with Al-Hilal, could happen in the summer and United better hope it does otherwise they will be stuck with a very expensive problem.

It didn’t feel that way when he arrived in England at the start of last season. Casemiro helped to carry United at times and scored seven goals, including a crucial opener in the Carabao Cup final victory over Newcastle at Wembley.

He was one of four stand-out players for Ten Hag alongside Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and Lisandro Martinez, even though two red cards – including once against Palace, surely his least favourite team, at Old Trafford – meant he was suspended for a total of eight games.

But the deal hasn’t aged well. The player looked out of shape when he returned for the new season, and despite four more goals before the end of September, he missed 17 games with a serious hamstring injury.

He has been a valuable mentor for young Kobbie Mainoo and still shows flashes of the old Casemiro. Even at Selhurst Park he was the biggest goal threat from set-pieces in a toothless United attack.

But playing out of position in central defence has been a disaster, and he has become a liability for Ten Hag.

A crazy header back towards his own six-yard box led to Burnley winning a late penalty in their draw at Old Trafford 11 days ago, and on Monday he reached the low point of an illustrious career.

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher was brutal in his analysis on Sky Sports.

‘Honestly, nothing can be worse than Casemiro playing at centre-half for Manchester United,’ said Carragher. ‘It’s sad to see a great player performing like this – he’s miles off it.

‘Casemiro should know as an experienced player that he should only have another four games left at the top level – the next three league games and the FA Cup final, then go to the MLS or Saudi.

‘I’m nowhere near what that man has achieved, but when I retired there’s a saying I always remember: leave the football, before the football leaves you.’