Casemiro Advocates for Neymar's Return to Brazil National Team

Casemiro has already made peace with his Manchester United exit. The decision is final, the bags are metaphorically packed, and his eyes are fixed firmly on one horizon: Brazil, Carlo Ancelotti, and a World Cup he believes still has room for one familiar genius.

Not himself. Neymar.

The 34-year-old midfielder, speaking on the Rio Ferdinand Presents YouTube channel, made an emphatic plea to Ancelotti to bring Neymar back into the national team picture, convinced the forward remains Brazil’s one true game-breaker.

For Casemiro, the logic is simple. Neymar doesn’t need to start every match. He just needs to be there when it matters.

“My decision, yes, but (the) decision you need to (make) first is (tell him), ‘hey, Neymar, you don't play every game,’” Casemiro said, before explaining the role he envisions. “He plays every game. For me, it's not perfect for him, I think he comes, and the game is not finished, the game is new, new. And (contributing) a special assist, a special goal is (the role) for him.”

Rio Ferdinand cut in: “He could change the game.”

Casemiro didn’t hesitate: “Yeah, change the game, and we don't have this player in this moment, we don't have, so, for me, in my opinion (yes), but it's Ancelotti's decision.”

Neymar has not played for Brazil since suffering a devastating knee injury two-and-a-half years ago, rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament and damaging the meniscus in his left knee. The country’s record goalscorer then required minor surgery on the same knee late last year and another procedure during the March international break. His international career has felt stuck in a holding pattern ever since.

Yet the narrative has shifted back in his favour. Neymar left Al-Hilal almost 18 months ago and returned to his first love, Santos. Back home, back in familiar surroundings, he has quietly pieced himself together again. The goals have started to flow, with strikes in back-to-back games arriving just as Ancelotti prepares to name his Brazil squad. Form, timing, reputation – all suddenly aligning.

Casemiro sees that and refuses to ignore it. In his eyes, Brazil still need that one player who can tilt a knockout tie with a single touch. Neymar, even at 34 and battle-scarred, remains that figure.

If Casemiro is campaigning for Neymar, his admiration for Ancelotti is just as clear. The Italian is not simply another coach in his career; he is the central figure in its second act. It was Ancelotti who brought Casemiro back into the Brazil setup last year after a spell in the wilderness that mirrored Neymar’s absence.

“I have good, very good feelings with him,” Casemiro told Ferdinand. “He's my friend, he's my friend. I know what he likes, what he doesn't like, I know everything. I've known Ancelotti for a long time, he's (been) my friend for a long time, so I know sometimes I push here, I don't push here, I know everything about Ancelotti.

“Ancelotti is in the top three in the world. In the last 15 years, he's (been) the best. He's the best, so Ancelotti is not just my manager, he's my friend.”

Asked what separates Ancelotti from the rest, Casemiro pointed not to complex tactics on a whiteboard but to a man who understands the people behind the players.

“For me, the first thing is (that) he talks about what the players like to lose. You know? What the players like. ‘I give you one thing, you give me this’,” he said. “But it's impossible to win with just a good manager, you need a good tactic, tactical.

“You need to know about this; it's impossible to have just one good thing. For winning trophies, you need everything, but for me, the best thing is a very good manager, he understands the players.”

That bond matters now more than ever. Casemiro will be a free agent this summer, free to choose his next move and, crucially, his next manager. His time at Manchester United is over by his own design, not through the whims of a boardroom or a touchline decision.

He has not wavered once since he first made the call at the start of the calendar year. Speaking to ESPN, he shut down any suggestion of a late U-turn.

“I don't think there's a chance, there's no chance, mostly because of what I said, you know? Go out the big door,” he insisted. “I think it was four beautiful, wonderful years, and I am eternally grateful not only to the club, but to the fans, but I think I have to leave on good terms, I have to go out on top. I will be an eternal United fan here in England, and I just have to thank all the love from the fans.”

No negotiation. No half-measures. Casemiro wants his Old Trafford chapter to close cleanly, with respect preserved on both sides.

So his future now stretches along two lines. One is his next club, where he will lean on experience and instinct to pick the right manager. The other runs through Brazil, through Ancelotti, and through a decision that could define the national team’s World Cup story.

Does Neymar get one more shot at changing everything?