Gary Neville predicts £50m star will leave Man Utd with Casemiro this summer

Gary Neville says he expects Manuel Ugarte to make way when Manchester United return to the transfer market to strengthen their midfield options in the summer.

Ugarte arrived in Manchester with weighty expectations on his shoulders after completing a £50million transfer move from Paris Saint-Germain back in 2024.

But the 24-year-old has badly struggled to live up to his hefty price tag across two underwhelming seasons in English football and is yet to make a single start since Michael Carrick took over the reins.

In stark contrast, Kobbie Mainoo has enjoyed an extraordinary resurgence under United’s interim head coach having effectively been frozen out of the starting XI under Ruben Amorim.

Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro have also been firing on all cylinders in United’s engine room and both played an integral part on Sunday afternoon as the Red Devils returning to winning ways with a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa.

However, Casemiro – who opened the scoring at Old Trafford – has confirmed he will be departing United at the end of the season, leaving the club with a big hole to fill in the middle of the park and in the dressing room.

Long before the Brazilian had even announced his impending exit, United had begun the search for reinforcements in central midfield, with the likes of Adam Wharton, Elliot Anderson and Carlos Baleba linked last summer.

Casemiro himself has reportedly encouraged United’s hierarchy to pursue a bid to prise fellow countryman Bruno Guimareas away from Newcastle when the transfer window opens for business.

Speaking after Casemiro’s outstanding performance against Villa, Neville insisted it was ‘right’ that the club respected the midfielder’s wish to seek a fresh challenge elsewhere.

But the ex-United and England right-back said it was imperative that his former club fill the void with two high-quality additions to bolster their squad for next season.

‘Casemiro has got such vast experience. Obviously Manchester United have got him in the latter part of his career,’ Neville said on his Sky Sports podcast.

‘When you see him now, you imagine… well we know because we saw him win five Champions League titles… what he was: he’s an exceptional central midfield player that played in one of the most dominant central midfields you’ll ever see, an amazing midfielder for Real Madrid.

‘But it’s right that United do let him go and it’s right that he does leave United. This is like a cameo at the end of his career, almost like a swan song, where he’s probably loving every minute of this and you can see it.

‘He’s showing and kissing his badge to the fans, the fans absolutely love him and it’s right that he does leave at the end of the season.

‘They will miss his presence in both boxes. I think he’s phenomenal at getting on the end of crosses and he’s phenomenal at clearing them. He’s brave in the air, he’s really good, he gets up early.

‘It was an exceptional goal.’

Neville added: ‘United need two central midfield players in the summer.

‘In the last summer transfer window, they rebuilt their forward line with Benjamin Sesko, Mathus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo to go along with the likes of Bruno Fernandes and Amad Diallo, and that’s really starting to hum and purr and you can see real goals and real threat.

‘Manchester United didn’t score enough goals last season and that’s an absolute no-no here, you have to score goals, so they’ve corrected that. Bruno Fernandes creating and even Mason Mount I’d throw into that when he’s fit.

‘There does look to be good options up top but the centre of midfield is a problem.’

According to Neville, United should be look to replace Casemiro and Ugarte with a ‘Michael Carrick-type’ midfielder and a more combative ‘destroyer’.

He explained: ‘I think Kobbie Mainoo and Casemiro are doing a great job right now for Michael Carrick, however, every United fan in this stadium knows that’s going to be nowhere near enough when United start playing in the Champions League next season, which is more than likely they will, and they don’t get knocked out of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup in the first round.

‘They’re going to need three or four really good central midfielders. At the moment, they’ve got Mainoo who you can buy into, but you can’t really look at any of the others and think that’s going to work.

‘Casemiro is leaving and I think Ugarte will leave so they need two really good central midfield players. Probably one that’s more positional, maybe like a Michael Carrick-type, and one that is more of a destroyer.’

The eight-time Premier League winner went on: ‘Basically, they need those two players and that’s the next area of focus.

‘I do think the back needs looking at but I think the midfield will be the real focus in the summer transfer window.’

Carrick was wary of adding any fuel to speculation of a possible U-turn for Casemiro when the Brazilian’s future was raised at his post-match press conference.

The United interim boss did, though, applaud the former Real Madrid man on the ‘terrific’ impact he had made over the last few weeks.

Asked if there was any chance of Casemiro changing his mind and staying, Carrick replied: ‘I think, in some ways, it’s difficult to say.

‘When something is decided, in some ways, the fact that it’s decided makes things a little bit easier and everyone understands the situation really.

‘I think the impact he’s had has been terrific, certainly since I’ve been here and working with him, and his influence in the team and big moments in goals.

‘And I think it was a nice moment at the end there with the supporters, and having that connection and the respect.

‘That was a nice moment and I think he’ll enjoy that.’

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