Casemiro said that Jamie Carragher’s infamous advice to “leave the football” might have come down to “bitterness” over Champions League trophies.
Casemiro will depart Manchester United at the end of the season when his contract expires, two years after he was singled out for criticism by Carragher.
“This has to stop because we are watching one of the greats of modern times,” Sky Sports pundit Carragher said in 2024 about Casemiro, citing his poor form.
“I always remember the saying ‘leave the football before the football leaves you.’ The football has left him. At this top level, he needs to call it a day at this level and move.”
Carragher has since U-turned, saying: “It is now fair to say the football has not left him.”
But Casemiro said to TNT in Brazil about Carragher’s original remark: “Everyone says whatever they want on television. I’m not someone who gets involved in that.
“But it’s a bit normal, because I won two Champions League titles over his team. Maybe after you win two titles against his club, there’s still some bitterness there.
“I respect his opinion. I don’t hold any resentment. The important thing is that he recognised he was wrong and changed his opinion. That’s what matters most.”
Carragher admitted he was wrong earlier this season, telling Sky Sports: “Casemiro is well within his rights to, if he wants to come back at me and say ‘leave the punditry before the punditry’s left you!’ He could definitely get one of those back in. Credit to him, he looks a completely different player.
“He looks like a different player physically as well. Even when I said that, you looked at him and he looked like an old man coming to the end of his time as a player.
“And whether he let himself go a little bit, or now he’s being ultra professional, physically, he looks completely different.”
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Casemiro won the Champions League five times during his stellar spell at Real Madrid, twice defeating Carragher’s former club Liverpool in the final.
The Brazil midfielder has spent the past four years with United, and will represent his nation at the World Cup this summer before seeking a new club for next season.
