Ex-Manchester United defender Paul Parker believes his former club should keep Casemiro at the club “as long as possible”.

The Brazilian has won his place back in the starting eleven after initially falling out of favour following the appointment of head coach Ruben Amorim. Speaking to BestBettingSites.com, Parker hailed Casemiro’s character:

“They tried to farm him off to Saudi Arabia. It’s easy, maybe, for him to turn around, put his hand up and say: ‘I’m gonna go’. But there’s a reason why he’s got so many Champions League medals, and he’s still a warrior. And when he goes, he knows when he’s done his time. And then he will go, rather than when people try to push him. So I’m a big fan of Casemiro and someone like him should be around for as long as possible.”

“There’s a reason why the manager brought him back as well, because the manager sees that in him. But the easy way for most of the people around when things ain’t going right for United, and I’m not on about United fans here, by the way. When it comes to other people who want to hate Manchester United, having a dig at Casemiro, it’s always ‘Oh, his legs are gone’ and this and that. And it’s just like it becomes a cliche.”

Amorim has been won over by Casemiro

As mentioned, the 33-year-old found game time hard to come by after the current manager’s arrival back in November. The midfielder only started three of Amorim’s first 13 league games in charge, having been an unused substitute in 9 of those matches.

Casemiro has actually been benched for 3 of the last 4 league fixtures too, but that is only because he has been rested. He has started all 5 of United’s knockout round ties in the Europa League so far, with his best performance coming against Lyon in the quarter-final second leg, when he racked up 3 assists.

Man United will have a decision to make this summer

Reliable sources have suggested that the Red Devils are still open to offloading Casemiro. He will have a year left on his contract at the end of the season and the next transfer window is the last opportunity the club will have to receive a sizeable fee for him.

For his part, the midfielder is said to be happy to see out the final 12 months of his current deal at Old Trafford. Based on his recent form, supporters would welcome him to stay.

See our Man United predicted XI for the game against Athletic Bilbao on Facebook here