Sources: Erik ten Hag’s view on Casemiro sale as Manchester United set Matthijs de Ligt demand

Manchester United have set their demand for Matthijs de Ligt while Erik ten Hag is happy to keep Casemiro at Old Trafford this summer, UtdDistrict understands.

Casemiro is a player who many Manchester United fans assumed would be sold following a steep decline in his performances since the turn of 2024.

After a string of injuries left Erik ten Hag with little to work with in defence, Casemiro was deployed as an auxiliary centre-back alongside Harry Maguire and then Jonny Evans towards the final few fixtures of the season, but his performances left much to be desired.

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He was widely criticised for being too lax in the back four, particularly during United’s 4-0 loss against Crystal Palace. However, United looked immediately much better once Lisandro Martínez and Raphaël returned at centre-back for the FA Cup final, where United ran out 2-1 victors over Manchester City.

Despite many assuming that a transfer to Saudi Arabia this summer was on the cards, UtdDistrict recently learned that Saudi Pro League clubs are not too keen on Casemiro as there are no clubs in the SPL who are actively hunting for a defensive midfielder.

Since this report, Sky Sports confirmed that interest from SPL clubs in Casemiro had “cooled”.

With this in mind, UtdDistrict now understands that Ten Hag is more than happy to keep Casemiro at United beyond this summer, believing that the Brazilian has an important role to play across the 2024/25 season.

Manchester United paid Real Madrid a fee believed to start at around £60 million plus add-ons in 2022, and Casemiro still has three years left on his current deal at Old Trafford.

Meanwhile, UtdDistrict have also been informed that the club does not plan to spend more than £38 million on Bayern Munich’s Matthijs de Ligt this summer.

De Ligt is one of several centre-back targets the club has on its list. The club recently submitted a bid of around £30 million that was rejected by the Bundesliga outfit.

It has been reported that Bayern want as much as £42 million guaranteed for the Dutch international defender, but UtdDistrict understands that United do not want any final deal creeping over a final fee of £38 million.

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