Casemiro 'contacted about rule breaching transfer' after Man Utd agreement
LA Galaxy and Inter Miami have reportedly approached Manchester United midfielder Casemiro about joining Major League Soccer. However, neither club have a spare designated player slot to sign the Brazil international into.
Paying him over £600,000 this year, exceeding the maximum salary budget charge, would violate league regulations. Their interest follows a report by the Manchester Evening News that Casemiro and United have agreed to waive a clause in his contract that could have stopped him from starting one of their remaining Premier League games.
The 34-year-old is due to depart United this summer after the club chose not to renew his contract earlier this season. However, if he started 35 of their Premier League matches, his contract would automatically be extended by another year.
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With seven games left, Casemiro has currently made 28 starts, so if his run of 14 consecutive starts continues until the end of this season, he would reach that target. That is now irrelevant, given that the clause was deemed unnecessary due to his upcoming exit.
Plans are already underway to sign a replacement, and Casemiro is reportedly close to finalising terms for a summer move. The Athletic have linked LA Galaxy and Inter Miami with interest in the Brazilian international.
ESPN further reports that both MLS clubs have reached out to Casemiro in recent days. However, they state that no clubs have yet tabled formal offers.
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Al Ittihad are another club reportedly interested in the midfielder. The Saudi Pro Leagueside are said to be keen and keeping a close eye on the situation.
Casemiro could replace his fellow Brazilian, Fabinho, in Jeddah, as he is also out of contract this summer. The departure of the former Liverpool player could be crucial to any move for the free agent.
Clubs are only permitted to register 10 non-Saudi players, two of whom must have been born in 2004 or later. Al Ittihad currently have 13 foreign players in their squad, with Fabinho the only one on an expiring deal.
Over in Miami, signing Casemiro would fill the void left by Sergio Busquets, who retired at the end of last season alongside Jordi Alba after they clinched the MLS Cup. Their current designated players are German Berterame, Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul.
They also have seven players on targeted allocation money contracts, seemingly including Luis Suarez and former United loanee Sergio Reguilon. Casemiro would need to accept a deal similar to those pairs' if he wishes to join them in Miami.
On the opposite coast, the Galaxy have Gabriel Pec, Joao Klauss and Joseph Paintsil as their designated players, with Riqui Puig set to miss this season due to injury. However, they have a clearer pathway to bringing in Casemiro, as they could potentially convert Klauss' deal to a targeted allocation money contract to open up a designated player slot.