Casemiro may be a Manchester United player now but he has risked the wrath of his former employers.
United pulled off the surprise £70m signing of Casemiro from Real Madrid last summer and, after taking a few months to find his feet at Old Trafford, the Brazilian midfielder is proving to be worth every penny.
Last season it was painfully obvious that United lacked a high-quality and experienced holding midfielder, so when they started the current season without one, United fans feared the worst.
Two defeats in Erik ten Hag’s first two matches in charge was the wake-up call United needed, and a week before the end of the transfer window they pulled off the surprise move.
United have got themselves a winner – Casemiro won five Champions Leagues and three La Liga titles while playing for Spanish giants Real Madrid. He showed his winning mentality by scoring the opener in the Carabao Cup final last weekend, ending United’s six-year trophy drought.
If the 31-year-old was a striker or an attacker he would be regarded as a legend at the Bernabeu but as an unfashionable defensive midfielder, he was arguably a little underappreciated.
Now, thanks to social media, he might have tainted his reputation slightly.
You don’t have to know much about football to know that Real Madrid and Barcelona don’t like each other very much.
That much was clear when the two behemoths met on Thursday night – a game that saw just one shot on target was punctuated by petty fouls, arguments and scuffles.
Casemiro was always a perpetrator of such antics, although it now appears he didn’t dislike Barca’s stars as much as he made out.
On Friday morning, eagle-eyed Twitter users noticed that the Brazilian star has recently followed Lionel Messi on Instagram, somewhat removing the illusion that all Real Madrid and Barca players hate each other.
He’s not the only one either – Toni Kroos follows Messi too, and he still plays for Los Blancos.
Messi plays for Paris Saint-Germain now, of course, and things might have been different had he remained at Camp Nou. But it goes to show that rival players often leave their beef on the pitch.
On Twitter, Real Madrid and Barcelona fans poked fun at the situation.
@Meandmyself017 said: “Bro had to respect his owner,” while @R_W_A_S added: “Funny how every player who leaves Real suddenly becomes a Messi fanboy.”
“I’m patiently waiting for the day Toni Kroos leaves Madrid. I’m sure that guy is a Messi fan lowkey,” said @Tomi_layoo,
Referencing Casemiro’s reputation for the ‘dark arts’ of the game, @JosephBash3 suggested: “So if Man United meet PSG ..he won’t kick him?”
