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Liverpool Echo

Sport

Theo Squires

Fabinho and Liverpool forced £350m Manchester United mistake that Casemiro won't solve

Fabinho EPL Fernandinho Jurgen Klopp Manchester City Cristiano Ronaldo Nemanja Matic Real Madrid Chelsea NGolo Kante

Ever since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in the summer of 2013, it has felt like an annual occurrence when Manchester United have been told by fans, pundits and rival supporters alike that they need to sign a holding midfielder.

Initially they obliged of course, parting with £289.9m to strengthen their engine room and bring in Marouane Fellaini, Daley Blind, Ander Herrera, Morgan Schneiderlin, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic and Fred year after year up.

The failings of such signings, culminating in the arrival of the Brazilian after failing to land long-term target Fabinho in the summer of 2018, even prompted United to ignore such pleas over the past three years. After all, while they might have still desperately needed a new enforcer, where’s the fun in signing a ‘number six’ if history suggests he would flop and it came at the cost of re-signing the legendary Cristiano Ronaldo?

Effectively the Kevin Keegan approach to football of just outscoring the opposition at the expense of a sturdy defence. We all know how that turned out for the Red Devils. Isn’t hindsight a wonderful thing?

It appears new manager Erik ten Hag has got the message at least, with United set to unveil the arrival of Casemiro before their home clash with Liverpool at Old Trafford on Monday night. The signing the Red Devils have long since needed, the Brazilian is set to join from Real Madrid in a £60m deal, worth up to £70m with add-ons.

It’s a hefty investment, with Pogba the only one of the aforementioned midfielders to have cost more. Yet given Casemiro is already 30, is it not a transfer that has come five years too late?

Since United last won the Premier League title back in 2012/13, Man City, Chelsea, Leicester City and Liverpool have all been champions of England. The quartet’s success has also arguably been built on possessing one of the best holding midfielders around, with such a player often being a recent recruit that helped them take that final step.

City spent £34m when signing Fernandinho from Shakhtar Donetsk in the summer of 2013, and were rewarded by winning the Premier League in his first season at the Etihad. He would finish his career with the club as a five-time English champion before leaving earlier this year.

Chelsea were the next champions of England in 2014/15, with Matic having a transformative effect on their fortunes after rejoining the club from Benfica in a £21m deal in January 2014. Meanwhile, N'Golo Kante's £5.6m arrival at Leicester City and then £32m move to Stamford Bridge 12 months later would be decisive when deciding the next two Premier League champions.

Fast forward to Liverpool's maiden Premier League win in 2019/20 and Fabinho played the most vital of roles. A Champions League winner in his first season with the Reds following his £43.7m switch from AS Monaco, he followed that up by helping Jurgen Klopp ’s side end their 30-year wait to be crowned champions of England.

And with Father Time catching up on Fernandinho, Man City spent £62.6m to sign Rodri from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2019. While he'd miss out on a Premier League winner's medal in that first season at the Etihad, Pep Guardiola's side have responded by being crowned English champions in each of the past two seasons.

So could Casemiro have a similar impact at Old Trafford? Don’t bank on it.

Fernandinho had just turned 28 when he joined Man City, while Matic was 25 when he re-joined Chelsea. Meanwhile, Kante was 24 and 25 respectively when signing for Leicester and then the Londoners.

Fabinho was 24 when snapped up by Liverpool, while Rodri had only just turned 23 when identified as Fernandinho’s replacement at the Etihad. All costing less than Casemiro, in most cases considerably so, the quintet were also considerably younger than the Brazilian when helping shape their respective side’s title-challengers.

Casemiro might be signing a four-year contract at Old Trafford, with the option of a fifth year, on terms reportedly worth £350k a week, but it all feels rather desperate. In truth, the Brazilian is exactly the signing Red Devils bosses should have made years ago when trying to arrest their decline.

Now his arrival is just a last throw of the dice, having seen Ronaldo decide he wants out of the club less than a year after re-joining, in response to dismal defeats to Brighton and Brentford which have left Ten Hag’s men bottom of the table.

Sure, Casemiro should improve United’s fortunes. But even with a four-year contract, he is not a signing for the future. Red Devils bosses clearly weren’t listening last year when Klopp warned against such mighty investment on elder statesmen when Ronaldo was being lined up for a Premier League return.

“It’s not about me to judge that. It’s about if other clubs can do things like this, it’s obviously not business for the future,” the German told reporters last August. “In three or four years we will have the benefit of that, it’s for now and immediately if that happens.

“That is how some clubs are obviously working and that is absolutely fine, but there must be different ways. There must be a team a year later and two years later, for us at least. And three years later as well.

“You need success. We felt that if you can win trophies it is great but it’s not, even with the best squad in the world, possible every year. If that’s not possible, you still need to make sure you develop as a team and a club.

“That’s what we did and that’s what we do. Anything else is really not in our hands. We watch it like all of you and will see what happens.”

Casemiro is the signing United need but they’re at risk of it being all too little, too late. As Liverpool and Man City continue to dominate at the top of English and European football, their signings of Fabinho and Rodri were part of a clear plan for the future, as linchpins for their respective sides for the years ahead.

One trophy is all well and good but Klopp and Guardiola had far more in mind as they stormed ahead of their rivals. In contrast, having been left in their wake, for United the signing of Casemiro isn’t even about trying to compete anymore. It’s just about staying afloat.

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