Man Utd Have Their Eye on ‘terrifying’ Casemiro Replacement Who is Like Pogba

Over the years, Manchester United have produced some truly fantastic players from their famous Carrington Academy. However, they have a special flair for producing some of the most talented midfielders in football history.

This goes back to the Busby Babes when one of the most exciting players, Duncan Edwards, played 177 times for the first team before tragically dying in the Munich air disaster.

Players like Paul Scholes, one of the greatest midfielders of all time, also came through United’s academy. Scholes was part of the legendary class of 1992 alongside the likes of Gary Neville and David Beckham.

The former England international played 716 times for United, scoring 155 goals and assisting 81, but he was much more than that. Scholes was a master on the ball and had the most spectacular passing skills. He could select passes that most players couldn’t even see.

Most recently, Kobbie Mainoo is the midfielder to break into United’s first team. Despite being just 19 years old, he has played 28 games for the Red Devils this season and never once looked out of place. He appears ready to take England to Euro 2024 in the summer.

However, there is one Carrington midfielder who played twice for United and has divided opinions on whether he was a success at Old Trafford or not.

Paul Pogba’s time at Man Utd

The player in question here is world champion Paul Pogba. The former United man is currently serving a ban for taking a banned substance, although he is contracted to Juventus after returning on a free transfer two summers ago.

Pogba’s time at United is certainly causing debate about whether he was worth the money they spent on his resignation in 2016, a then world record transfer fee of £89 million. In the midfielder’s 233 games for the club, including seven in his first spell, he scored 39 goals and 48 assists, as well as two trophies, the Europa League and the Carabao Cup.

Despite his high fee and performance, there is little doubt about Pogba’s sheer grace and elegance as a midfielder. Unfortunately, he was often misrepresented as being played as a number six, but in reality his best moves all came from higher up the pitch.

His best football came at United under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, playing 101 times for him, scoring 17 goals and assisting 23. Later in the Norwegian’s reign he often played on the left wing and thrived in that role.

Pogba is one of the most skilled dribbling players today, despite his large stature, which was actually an advantage and helped him push defenders away from him with ease. According to Fbref, he averaged 48.16 carries per 90 minutes in the 2020/21 Premier League season, placing him in the top 14% of midfielders.

In addition, the Frenchman is great when he has the ball at his feet and can make 50 or 60 yard passes that always reach their desired destination. In the same season, Pogba made 1.95 substitutions per 90 minutes, placing him in the top 1%, and played 6.26 final third passes per 90 minutes, placing him in the top 13%.

The former United man excels at heading the ball, winning 2.61 aerial duels per 90 minutes this season, putting him in the top 4%, as well as 7.02 ball recoveries per 90 minutes. Even though the defensive side of his game isn’t as good as the attacking side, he’s still a more than capable defender, and his size is one of the reasons he had to play as a number 6.

Unfortunately, United never truly replaced Pogba, yet a midfielder of his profile is still missing from their squad. However, the answer could well lie in the 2nd Bundesliga, the second German league, namely Assan Ouedraogo.

Man Utd are targeting a Pogba-like Casemiro replacement

According to Sky Sports in Germany, United have “scouted him from abroad for the game against Düsseldorf”, so there is certainly interest there.

They would undoubtedly face competition from other clubs for Ouedraogo, with Atalanta, VfB Stuttgart, Werder Bremen and TSG Hoffenheim also believed to be interested.

Should United want to bring Ouedraogo to the club this summer, they would have to pay a relatively small transfer fee, namely £17.1 million. According to reporter Florian PlettenbergThe youngster has a release clause of this amount in his contract.

What makes Ouedraogo so good

Ouedraogo is a 17-year-old midfielder who currently plays for German giants Schalke. In his debut season in professional football, he impressed with 15 appearances, in which he scored twice and assisted twice.

Like Pogba, he is a lanky midfielder, yet graceful on the ball. He has been described by Football analyst Ben Mattinson on X as a “terrifying” player who is a “great ball carrier” with “quick feet for someone who is 191cm tall”.

According to Fbref, Ouedraogo averages 2.18 progressive transfers per 90 minutes and 1.03 final third transfers per 90 minutes, placing him in the top 15% and 3% of midfielders respectively. He’s also good in the air, with an average aerial win rate of 1.41 per 90 minutes, putting him in the 77th percentile.

As far as Pogba replacements go, Manchester United perhaps shouldn’t look any further given their extremely similar skill sets. However, the Red Devils could well see this summer as the ideal time to replace Casemiro, who appears to be a shadow of his former self.

The German youngster could well prove to be Casemiro’s replacement if the Brazilian leaves. However, if United decide to sign him for this reason, they will have to be careful.

As Mattinson explained Ouedraogo has a “similar profile” to Pogba, Kephram Thuram and Ryan Gravenberch, explaining that these three are “players who are mistakenly profiled as sixes due to their physical prowess and size, but in reality are at their best as advanced eights are suitable”.

So if United were to buy Ouedraogo, it could mean they have to play Mainoo as a deeper midfielder. This certainly works against the best skills of the 19-year-old, who also plays as an advanced eight. Therefore, in order to integrate both Ouedraogo and Mainoo into the same team, they would likely need to sign another player who has the most success playing deeper.

Signing the Schalke sensation for just £17.1 million certainly seems like a smart piece of business for United. This means they could finally find a replacement for Pogba and Casemiro. Doesn’t that sound a bit good?