(Credit: Imago)

Ben Palmer

Mon 10 March 2025 14:20, UK

Man United stars Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes have reacted to a message from Casemiro after a draw with rivals Arsenal.

Casemiro announced he would see out the rest of his contract in Manchester, much to the dismay of Man United fans.

The Brazilian midfielder is on a staggering £300,000-a-week, and was earmarked as a potential sale this summer, with United’s current transfer funds limited.

However, the former Real Madrid man has performed well in recent weeks, and in the 1-1 draw with rivals Arsenal, Casemiro was impressive alongside Fernandes in midfield.

The Brazil international had the most tackles in the match (4) and won the most duels (12), as he successfully negated Martin Odegaard for long periods of the game.

Casemiro enjoys ‘thrilling’ match against Arsenal

Following the 1-1 draw, Casemiro posted three images of himself in action on Instagram, captioned: “What a thrilling match, lads !!”

Maguire responded to his teammate with two clapping hands emojis, while Fernandes simply said “Classe”, (Portuguese for “Class”), with a handshake emoji.

Casemiro has been scrutinised since joining the club from Real Madrid in August 2022 for £70million.

The Brazilian was expected to immediately fix United’s midfield issues, but as with many big money signings at Old Trafford in recent years, the former Porto man has struggled to gel with his teammates on the pitch.

However, in recent weeks, Casemiro’s performances have improved, with the holding midfielder flourishing alongside Fernandes.

Man United need to find consistency after great performances against rivals

Football Insider Verdict

This season, United have beaten Man City, knocked Arsenal out of the FA Cup and put in fantastically diligent performances in draws against the Gunners, Chelsea and Liverpool.

They have also lost to Brighton, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Wolves, West Ham and Tottenham (three times).

Whilst it’s always slightly amusing to point out United’s failure to win against sides who spend a fraction of what they do on transfers, the struggling team’s results are truly confounding.

Under Amorim (and previous manager Erik ten Hag), the 20-time Premier League champions seem at their most capable when playing as the underdog against a historic rival.

Against teams more on their current level, United under-perform, and that is a big reason as to why the Red Devils currently sit 14th in the Premier League table.

But why do they under-perform against the “smaller” sides? Is it just an issue with the psychological part of the game?

Partly, but more so, United are struggling to craft chances this season, and even when they do, the lack of a clinical goal-scorer is hurting them.

The Red Devils rank 12th in the Premier League for big chances created, with two more than Nottingham Forest, but the Tricky Trees have scored 45 goals to United’s 34, with Chris Wood’s goal-scoring exploits highlighting the need for a less wasteful striker.