Though he’s long since had his day, when Claude Makelele showers a player with praise you know that they must be good.
The former Chelsea stalwart was a master of his craft and could legitimately claim to be one of the Premier League’s greatest ever players.
He’ll know what it takes to make it right to the very top, and therefore his suggestion that Casemiro is better than he was has to be taken seriously.
The Brazilian perhaps hasn’t been as influential this season as he was in 2022/23, and his salary of £350,000 per week (Capology) – which makes him the top earner – is likely to see Sir Jim Ratcliffe dispense with his services at the end of the current campaign.
However, the new part-owner of the Red Devils might do well to give a few minutes of his time to Makelele, now 51.
During a light-hearted interview for Goal’s Instagram channel, the former ace was given a series of midfield talents to compare himself against and was asked to answer as and when there was a player that Makelele himself believed was better than him, and was asked to stay quiet until he heard the name of a better talent.
Claude Makelele says Casemiro was better than he was
“De Rossi, Declan Rice, Joshua Kimmich, Gattuso, Roy Keane, Javier Mascherano, Edgar Davids,” the interviewer said, without eliciting a single response from the Congolese.
“Casemiro,” he added, to which Makelele replied; “Yes! “Because he’s young, he’s a new generation but he reminds me of my generation.”
If allowing Casemiro to leave the club is based purely on a financial footing, perhaps Sir Jim would be better served by sitting down with the player and his representatives to negotiate a new deal.
