Casemiro has claimed that Jamie Carragher's infamous 'leave the football' jibe from two years ago was likely born out of 'bitterness' after watching his beloved Liverpool lose twice to the Brazilian's Real Madrid in Champions League finals.
The Manchester United midfielder will leave Old Trafford in the summer when his contract expires, despite enjoying a return to form under Michael Carrick. He has been vital to United's revival, which will see them return to the Champions League after an underwhelming period.
Casemiro has rolled back the years, looking like the player who was so effective at Real Madrid. During his time at the Bernabeu, he won the Champions League five times, defeating Liverpool in the finals of 2018 and 2022. He believes Carragher may have been rattled by those defeats when he made his famous swipe.
Back in 2024, when United were in the midst of a dire run of form, Casemiro was singled out by Carragher, who claimed he needed to leave the Premier League. Carragher said: 'This has to stop because we are watching one of the greats of the modern time. 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. The level of that player, he should not be putting himself through this. He is too good of a player to be putting in a performance like that being laughed at by Crystal Palace. He needs to call it a day.'
Casemiro was quizzed on those comments and told TNT Sports Brazil: '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.'
Carragher has since u-turned on those comments, leaving the United midfielder to call a truce. Casemiro said: '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.'
Casemiro has come up with several big goals, enjoying his best ever year in the final third. Carragher recently said that he would have to accept it if the Brazilian wanted to fire back. He said: 'Considering what he's producing this season in the Premier League, and not just Fulham at home, you think what he did last week against Arsenal away and Manchester City at home. 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.'
