Manchester United 'ready to pay off star' and more transfer rumours

Manchester United are reportedly ready to 'pay off' Casemiro ahead of a squad overhaul in the summer.

The Brazilian midfielder was one of Erik ten Hag's star men in his first season at the club after being purchased from Real Madrid in his first window. Casemiro was the defensive midfielder United had been lacking for many years and was arguably their best player in 2022/23.

However, this campaign has been a different story. Before his injury in the Carabao Cup defeat to Newcastle, the 31-year-old was off the pace in the Premier League. The emergence of Kobbie Mainoo in the weeks Casemiro has been out has served to weaken his importance to the squad. And according to the Daily Star, United are not willing to risk being stuck with the midfielder next season and are ready to sell him at a cut-price fee to get him off the books.

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United spent £60million on Casemiro in 2022 and it is believed the Reds would need to fork out approximately £20m to the Brazilian to cancel his contract early and allow him to take lower wages elsewhere. Casemiro will have two years on his deal at Old Trafford remaining come the summer.

Elsewhere, Sky Sports Deutschland's Florian Plettenberg claims United want to sign Ajax forward Brian Brobbey this winter to bolster their attacking options. The 21-year-old was linked with the Reds in the summer after Ten Hag became a fan of his while at the Amsterdam club.

Brobbey admitted there was a phone call between himself and the United boss but he wanted to stay in the Netherlands. Contact never ceased between the pair, it is believed, and now Ten Hag is back again to try and raid his old club.