Ancelotti confirms that Casemiro wants to leave Real Madrid

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has admitted that Casemiro is close to joining Manchester United.

“I've discussed it with him this morning. He wants to try a new challenge, a new opportunity. The club understand it, with all he's done for this club and the person he is, we have to respect it. There are talks right now, he's still a Real Madrid player at this stage, but he wants to leave. If he goes, we have the resources to replace him".

“I haven't tried to convince him, I just listened, because I have spoken to Casemiro throughout my time here and he has helped us so much. Having heard what he wants, there's no way back. If he doesn't stay, we'll have an enormous sense of gratitude to him for all he's done. We have replacements within the squad. Tchouameni was signed for this position and he's one of the best central midfielders on the market right now, then we've got Kroos, who can play in that position too, just like he did in my second year here, and there's Camavinga as well”.

“We have other players with different attributes because it's not only a player with the same qualities as Casemiro who can play that position. In my teams I've had players like Pirlo in that position, who had very different attributes to Casemiro but did a great job. Tchouameni is more similar to Casemiro than Kroos in the defensive elements but Kroos can absolutely play there too”.

“I think Casemiro is fully aware of what Real Madrid means. The same thing happened when I was coaching Milan; there comes a time when you feel perfectly happy but you want to try something new. I was in a great position, the club was like family to me, but you just want a new experience, in a new league, a new country and a new language. It's a personal thing, I understand it completely".