MANCHESTER UNITED new boy Casemiro orders dossiers on every referee so he knows how best to deal with them.
The 30-year-old defensive midfielder has just arrived at Man Utd for £70million from Real Madrid.
The Telegraph spoke to the Brazilian international’s friend and former teammate Bruno dos Anjos who revealed that he meticulously plans for matches including having documents that analyse referees.
Dos Anjos said: “He plays in a role where you talk a lot to the referees and are more likely to receive a card.
“So it’s important that they understand what he says and that he’s able to argue with them if necessary as well.
“It may be helpful in certain situations.”
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Casemiro’s dossiers include where a referee is from, if they have a job outside football, how strict they are and what their style of refereeing is like.
He is no stranger to a tough tackle and picking up a yellow card due to his physical style – he was booked 16 times last season in 48 matches.
Incredibly he has never received a straight red card in his career and has only been sent off twice.
Casemiro was at Real Madrid for nine seasons where he enjoyed much success most notably winning five Champions Leagues and three LaLiga titles.
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He was a popular figure at the Spanish giants and his goodbye was emotional before later that day he was unveiled to fans at Old Trafford prior to Man Utd’s game versus Liverpool.
He could be set to make his first appearances versus Southampton this weekend.
Despite spending big money on him, United plan to do more business this summer.
They are still hoping to get a deal over the line for Ajax winger Antony while they remain interested in bringing in a new goalkeeper with Kevin Trapp linked but he has reportedly turned them down.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk