Casemiro will make his final Old Trafford appearance on Sunday when Manchester United host Nottingham Forest in the club’s last home game of the campaign.
The Brazilian missed United’s most recent match, a 0-0 draw at Sunderland, after being sidelined with a minor knock, but he is expected to return to the starting XI for what will be his farewell at Old Trafford before leaving the club as a free agent in the summer.
The weight of the moment is plain: Casemiro has made 159 appearances for Manchester United and scored 26 goals, numbers that underline how central he has been since arriving. His presence will be matched by other late-season adjustments — Manuel Ugarte is also expected to come back into midfield after missing the trip to Sunderland with a back problem, while Benjamin Sesko is likely to remain sidelined with a shin issue and Matthijs de Ligt faces surgery that should keep him out for three months.
Team news ahead of man u vs nottingham forest points to a settled spine. Senne Lammens is expected to continue in goal, Diogo Dalot at right-back and Luke Shaw on the left. Lisandro Martinez returned from injury last weekend to partner Harry Maguire at centre-back. Bruno Fernandes is set to play as the No10 and wear the captain’s armband; Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo are likely to operate on either side of him, with Matheus Cunha or Joshua Zirkzee considered as the central striker. Mason Mount partnered Kobbie Mainoo in midfield for the Sunderland match, and Ayden Heaven is expected to drop to the bench.
Context matters here: Casemiro’s role has increased after a period when Ruben Amorim questioned whether he had the physical capabilities to be effective in the Premier League. Since 6 March 2025 he has started every major game United have played, including the first leg of the Europa League last-16 with Real Sociedad on 6 March 2025, and last month he celebrated a goal against Brentford by kissing and pointing to the badge — a small, public sign of attachment ahead of his exit.
The match also carries an unavoidable tension. In May 2024, following a 4-0 defeat at Crystal Palace, Jamie Carragher urged Casemiro to "leave the football before the football leaves you," a comment that fed a wider debate about the midfielder’s longevity. On 30 December 2024 Casemiro was substituted after 64 minutes in the home defeat to Newcastle — Joshua Zirkzee had been introduced earlier in the 33rd minute — and critics used those moments to question whether time was running out. Casemiro has answered such noise on his own terms. "Football changes. Life changes," he has said, and he added that with the best players it is always about mentality: "For me, [with] the best players in the world, it's about the mentality. I might not play good - I'm not a robot and I know. But the next [game], I give everything on the pitch. The mentality is next, next, next."
That thread — criticism followed by a run of starts and a visibly committed performance — sharpens what today means for United supporters. It is not just a fixture; it is a formal goodbye for a player who has been in the team sheet more than 150 times. At the same time United will face short-term selection questions through to the summer: Ugarte’s return bolsters options in front of defence, Sesko and De Ligt’s absences shape plans in attack and defence, and the club must decide how to replace a player who leaves with 159 appearances and 26 goals to his name.
When the final whistle blows at Old Trafford, Casemiro will walk off the pitch one last time in the red shirt. He has framed that moment plainly: changes come and life moves on. Today, for him and for the fans who will watch him leave, the detail that matters is the pitch — and the performance he gives as he closes this chapter.
