05 May 2023 , 10:32
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Teddy Sheringham has shared his thoughts on Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez and Antony - almost a year on since the trio joined Manchester United.
Erik ten Hag revamped his United squad last summer after arriving from Ajax. He spent £200million on new signings, with Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez and Antony the most expensive. Tyrell Malacia, Martin Dubravka and Christian Eriksen also made the move to the Red Devils.
This also meant there was some outgoings. Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Edinson Cavani were amongst those to depart on free transfers, while United managed to get small fees for Andreas Pereira and Tanith Chong. Dean Henderson, Alex Telles and Amad Diallo all departed on loan.
It was a completely different United side that lined-up for the first game of the season against Brighton, and although they lost that game, the Red Devils have bounced back well. The arrival of Casemiro from Real Madrid has helped their cause and he has proven to be a terrific piece of business.
Speaking to Lord Ping, Sheringham said: "I really like Casemiro. I think he could save them a lot of money in terms of owning that position for a few more seasons - they wouldn’t need to sign a player like Declan Rice with him in the team. Casemiro is a very good player.
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"He's very cool in possession, he knows when to foul people, knows when to be hard and to keep the game ticking over. He's an experienced player and was an addition that United midfield was crying out for. I think he’s been fantastic in his debut season."
As for Martinez, he worked under Ten Hag at Ajax and the Dutchman trusted him and felt he would be an important asset to the United squad. The 25-year-old, who also won the World Cup with Argentina in December, has been excellent since his move - and Sheringham agrees.
Lisandro Martinez has impressed for Manchester United this season (Getty Images)He added: "I like Martinez. I think he took a little bit of time to adjust to the Premier League - there was obviously a lot of talk about his size when he joined, but football isn’t the game it was twenty-five years ago with balls being lumped into the box.
"He's Argentinian and brings that aggression to his game. He's just won the World Cup. It's a shame that he’s got injured – he’s had a great season. He’s come in and adapted well to the English game."
Sheringham also delivered his verdict on Antony, who was United's most expensive buy last summer after he joined from Ajax in a deal worth around £81million. However, the ex-United forward hasn't been convinced and doesn't believe Sir Alex Ferguson would have been a massive fan, either.
"I'd be interested in hearing what Fergie thinks of Antony. Whenever we played against wingers like that, Fergie would call them a "little fizz-pop", because he is a winger that whizzes around, can disappear for long periods of games and can do needless tricks, but is also capable of scoring a wonder goal every now and again.
"He's not really a Fergie player - Fergie liked his wingers to be more consistent than Antony has been. I know that he has scored some great goals; some important goals, and he is obviously a talented boy. I think he needs to learn a little bit more about the Premier League, a little bit like Ronaldo when he first joined the club."