It took three months of hard work to change Amorim’s mind.
On 6 March 2025, he started the first leg of the Europa League last-16 draw with Real Sociedad. He kept his place for the league game against Arsenal and, from that point, has started every major game United have played.
“Football changes. Life changes,” Casemiro said in his recent interview with former United captain Ferdinand.
“For me, [with] the best players in the world, it’s about the mentality. I might not play good – I’m not a robot and I know. But the next [game], I give everything on the pitch. The mentality is next, next, next.”
It is a mentality that has brought Casemiro back into the Brazil squad – he is expected to be Carlo Ancelotti’s captain at this summer’s tournament.
This season, the 34-year-old’s influence has noticeably increased.
Of all the players in Michael Carrick’s squad, it is widely accepted if Casemiro had been injured in February, after the transfer deadline had closed, his absence would have been the hardest to cover in the ultimately successful quest for Champions League qualification.
“He has been an absolute pleasure to work with,” Carrick says in his programme notes for the Forest game.
“He will always have a special connection with Manchester United.”
Carrick has felt the early clarity around Casemiro’s exit – announced on 22 January, days after the manager’s own return as Amorim’s temporary replacement – has been beneficial for player and club.
Aside from the mentality aspect, the player’s influence at Old Trafford should extend far longer than his physical presence.
When Casemiro arrived from Real Madrid in 2022 in a deal worth up to £70m, Kobbie Mainoo, then aged 17, felt he would learn huge amounts from one of the most decorated players in the game.
Amid the Brazilian’s collapse in form, Mainoo ended up battling for a start with Casemiro, which wasn’t a situation he envisaged.
The clear by-product of Amorim’s exit has been the partnership between the pair, who have played alongside each other in 13 of Carrick’s 15 matches in charge – a one-match absence for both players because of minor injuries the only reason it was not 15 out of 15.
“Kobbie is my friend,” Casemiro explained earlier this month in a separate interview with the respected United We Stand fanzine.
“I have an excellent relationship with him. We are always joking – in English because he doesn’t speak Portuguese.
“He is a complete player, the present and the future of Manchester.
“Why? Because he has already taught us that he can play to a high level for his club and country. The one thing he needs to improve is to play more with the ball, to touch the ball more, because he has so much quality.
“Then it’s the decision-making which comes with experience. That improves with age.”
