Casemiro has been ruled out of Manchester United’s final game of the Premier League season against Brighton on Sunday.
The Brazil international has called time on his four-year stint at United and will leave Old Trafford as a free agent this summer.
Casemiro said farewell to United supporters last Sunday following the 3-2 win against Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford.
United will finish third in the Premier League, regardless of their result on the final day against Brighton, but they will be without Casemiro in midfield for only the second time since Michael Carrick replaced Ruben Amorim as manager in January.
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Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Thursday, Carrick confirmed that a decision had already been made about Casemiro missing the trip to Brighton.
‘First of all on Casemiro, I was kind of decided that last week would be his last game,’ Carrick said.
‘So, I think that went as well as we all could have hoped, to be honest.
‘He’s been fantastic and I’ve said a lot of things about Case, how well he’s done for me since I’ve been here and for the whole club. It was decided it would be a good time for him to finish really.
Brighton vs Man Utd confirmed line-ups
Brighton: Verbruggen; De Cuyper, Dunk, Van Hecke, Kadioglu; Gross, Milner; Gomez, Hinshelwood, Wieffer; Welbeck.
Subs: Steele, March, Rutter, Minteh, Baleba, Kostoulas, Boscagli, O’Riley, Veltman.
Man Utd: Lammens, Mazrouai, Maguire, Martinez, Shaw, Mount, Mainoo, B. Fernandes, Amad, Dorgu, Mbeumo
Subs: Bayindir, Heaven, Malacia, Yoro, T. Fletcher, Ugarte, Cunha, Lacey, Zirkzee
‘It just felt the right time I think, for Case, it was decided and he was part of that as well. It was the right time, there is an element of balance, like I’ve just said, the last game, we’re not done, the season’s not done for us. We’re really conscious of that.
‘So, there’s a real balance between trying new things, moving forward, keep evolving, there are always games we’ll try different things in that some might notice, some people might not notice others.
‘So, I think the biggest thing is we’re really conscious to respect this last game, what it stands for and obviously try and make the best of it for us. We want to go down there and put in a good performance and try to win the game.’
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