Casemiro: Real Madrid pay tribute before move to Manchester
Florentino confirmed on ‘DAZN’ that the Brazilian’s act, starting at 11:00 in Valdebebas, will live up to his successes.
“Casemiro is a legend. He has earned to decide what he wants to do for everything he has given us. We will pay tribute to him in recognition of how much he has given to this club,” club president Florentino Pérez told DAZN, ahead of Real Madrid’s victory over Celta Vigo.
Madrid, in the emotional statement (“Real Madrid is and always will be your home”), confirmed the Brazilian’s move to Manchester United. At 11.30 am local time on Monday morning, Real Madrid City will be decked out to say goodbye to the midfielder, with Florentino leading the ceremony.
Carlo Ancelotti and a number of his former team-mates are expected to accompany him in what is expected to be a tearful event. “Casemiro will leave, but Madrid will continue to win, the key is to transmit those values,” he said in an interview with AS months ago.
His legacy is 18 titles - 5 Champions League titles, 3 Club World Cups, 3 European Super Cups, 3 Spanish Super Cups, 3 Spanish league titles and 1 Copa del Rey - and he ended his spell with Madrid by winning the Man of the Match award against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Super Cup final recently.
Casemiro arrived in 2013 and, after playing with Real Madrid Castilla and developing under Julen Lopetegui at Porto, became a Madrid legend and earned a farewell worthy of his success.
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Joining Manchester United
Once the tribute is over, Casemiro will head to Manchester to arrive at Old Trafford in time to witness his new team-mates’ clash with Liverpool on Monday night.
It will be a tough test for Erik ten Hag’s side, who currently sit bottom of the Premier League after two games. Casemiro will be reunited with Raphael Varane and Cristiano Ronaldo but in a very different situation to that experienced when they shared a dressing room at Madrid.