Ole Gunnar Solskjaer brutally exposed one of Manchester United's biggest transfer failures

"His legs have gone." It is a statement Jamie Carragher has made more than once this season about Manchester United midfield enforcer Casemiro.

The Brazilian, who swapped the Bernabeu for Old Trafford in August 2022, has regressed at a rate nobody expected this term. He was nothing short of outstanding in his debut season in M16 last season, playing a key role in halting the club's long-term midfield troubles.

Often working alongside Christian Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes in the engine room, the 32-year-old provided United with the world-class defensive presence they had been missing. He was their destroyer-in-chief and worth every penny of the initial £60million fee they paid for him.

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Less than a year later, however, United need a succession plan. Though you must take a plethora of mitigating circumstances into account, not least the injury issues he and the rest of the squad have encountered this season, he has simply not been good enough, failing to hit the levels he so often reached last term.

Turning 32 last month, United need to begin the process of finding a long-term replacement for him. Finding a world-class destroyer, who is in the same bracket as Rodri, for example, is not going to be an easy task, especially when United have so many other departments within the squad that need strengthening this summer.

Kobbie Mainoo is primed to become a mainstay in United's midfield for years to come, but he is edging towards becoming a player who specialises as a No.8, rather than a No.6, such are his capabilities to get on the ball and be progressive. He can