It has been a frustrating season so far for Manchester United. The Red Devils are currently languishing in 14th in the Premier League, having earned just eight points so far. Erik ten Hag’s side have won just two games, against Fulham and Southampton, drawing twice and losing three times.
Frustratingly for the Red Devils, they have not been able to build on their FA Cup victory last term. Having finished in an underwhelming eighth place in the league, the season was saved with their FA Cup final win over Manchester City, Ten Hag’s greatest triumph.
Goals from two academy graduates, Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo, were enough to seal the win that day.
Garnacho and Mainoo’s United careers
It has been an astronomical rise to the top for United’s exciting young duo. They have played a crucial role in their short United careers so far, which was capped off by sealing the FA Cup victory for Ten Hag’s side.
Their goals at Wembley showed many of the good things about the pair. Garnacho’s came from relentless pressing, a willingness to never give up, and he forced a mistake from Josko Gvardiol to have a tap in.
The move for Mainoo’s strike was orchestrated by him initially, finding Marcus Rashford who switched play to Garnacho, before the ball ended up at the teenager’s feet in the penalty box to double United’s lead. Direct and relentless from Garnacho, technical and composed from Mainoo, their skillsets in a nutshell.
They have already played plenty of games in that famous red shirt. The young Argentina winger has appeared 97 times for the Old Trafford club so far, scoring 19 times and grabbing 13 assists. His English teammate has played 44 games already, finding the back of the net five times and registering an assist.
They are yet to receive a bumper pay rise which reflects their high first-team status. According to reports, Garnacho is on ‘just’ £50k per week, and Mainoo earns far less, just £20k per week. There are only six players who earn less than the winger, and two less than the England midfielder.
There is no doubt that the pair are United’s future, and two players whom the team should be built around. However, United’s squad also has a few players who are not ones for the long-term, including one experienced squad member who has been poor for a long while – Casemiro.
Casemiro’s stats for United
Looking back on the deal, the £70m United paid Real Madrid to sign Casemiro in the summer of 2022 has not proven to be a wise investment. Although the Brazilian looked at his best for the first half of his debut season, his decline has been rapid and concerning.
The experienced midfielder, who has won the Champions League five times with Los Blancos, has begun to feature less and less under Ten Hag. He has made 92 appearances for the club in all competitions, but this season has played just six Premier League games.
Stat
2022/23
2023/24
2024/25
Games
28
25
6
Minutes
2127
1985
278
Full 90s
23.6
22
3
Goals
4
1
0
Assists
3
2
0
The 32-year-old came under fire from Jamie Carragher last season for his performances. The former Liverpool defender turned Sky Sports pundit claimed that, at the end of last season, he needed to “call it a day at this level and move”.
Incredibly, he is the highest earner at Old Trafford. Casemiro is currently on around £350k per week, which is a whooping five times more than Garnacho and Mainoo combined, who earn £70k each week altogether. Given the youngsters’ contributions to the club, this certainly seems harsh, especially when you consider the midfielder’s quick decline.
United might well need to decide if these funds are best spent on the Brazilian, who has struggled and is no longer a first-team regular, with recent claims made that he could even depart in January.
In all, when factoring in his £18.2m salary per year across the last two seasons, the ageing talent has cost the club at least £106m in transfer fee and wages alone.
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Instead, the Red Devils could distribute that money between their exciting academy duo, the future of the club, rather than Casemiro, who’s drop off has been sad for the footballing world to watch.
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