Cristiano Ronaldo, reportedly unhappy at the idea of his former teammate Casemiro linking up with Lionel Messi at Inter Miami, is pushing Al-Nassr to move fast and win the race for the Brazilian's signature. The old rivalry never really goes away.
Casemiro has confirmed he's leaving Manchester United when his contract expires this summer. INEOS have no interest in extending his deal — the wages don't fit their new financial structure — and the 34-year-old is equally keen on a fresh challenge. That much is settled. What isn't settled is where he ends up.
The two offers on the table
Inter Miami, David Beckham's club, have Casemiro near the top of their summer list. According to Marca, their plan is straightforward: bring him in to replace Sergio Busquets in midfield. He'd slot into a squad built around Messi, reuniting with a man he spent years trying to stop at Real Madrid.
Ronaldo, apparently, has other ideas. CR7 has taken it upon himself to lobby Al-Nassr's hierarchy to make a serious move — the chance to play alongside his old Madrid and United partner clearly more appealing to him than watching Casemiro join Messi's project in Florida.
Saudi money is genuinely competitive here. The financial package from the Gulf would likely rival anything MLS can offer, and Casemiro has made clear he'll follow the best deal available. That's not cynicism — that's a 34-year-old with a finite number of high-earning years left making a rational decision.
What this means in practical terms
For United, none of this really changes anything. The club's midfield rebuild continues regardless of where Casemiro lands, and the brief resurgence under Michael Carrick — which had fans calling for him to stay — isn't enough to shift INEOS's position. The numbers don't work on their end.
The real intrigue is what Casemiro decides. A reunion with Ronaldo in Riyadh keeps him in a high-profile league where Saudi clubs have spent aggressively to stay relevant. Inter Miami puts him alongside Messi in a project with growing ambition and a 2026 World Cup on home soil adding a layer of visibility neither man will ignore.
Interest from Italy and Brazil is also in the mix, though neither is expected to match the financial weight of the Saudi or MLS offers.
Five Champions League titles, two Premier League seasons, and now a transfer tug-of-war between football's two most famous players. Casemiro's next move will say a lot about what he wants from his final years as a professional.
