Casemiro has reportedly reached a verbal agreement to join Inter Miami, according to transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano, making the Brazilian midfielder the latest global name to choose Major League Soccer over a return to European football. The move would come after his departure from Manchester United, where he spent three seasons as one of the club’s most important defensive midfielders.
The 34-year-old is currently in the United States after representing Brazil at the 2026 World Cup, which has only accelerated conversations with the Miami organization. Despite audible chants from supporters at Old Trafford urging him to stay for one more season, Casemiro appears to have made his decision. Inter Miami is where he wants to go next.
Getting him there, however, involves clearing several hurdles that are specific to how MLS operates.
The designated player problem
Inter Miami currently has all three of its designated player spots occupied. Lionel Messi holds one, Rodrigo De Paul holds another, and Germán Berterame, the Argentine striker signed ahead of this season, fills the third. Designated player slots are reserved for the league’s highest-earning athletes, and without an open spot, Casemiro would need to accept a dramatically reduced salary to fit within standard roster parameters.
That kind of pay cut would represent a significant departure from what he earned at Manchester United and before that at Real Madrid, where he won five Champions League titles. Whether Casemiro is willing to take that financial step is one of the central questions still surrounding the deal.
Miami does have options. The club could negotiate the departure of one of its current designated players to free up a slot, or it could explore a loan arrangement similar to the one it initially used to bring De Paul in last summer. Neither path is simple, but the organization has navigated these constraints before and has shown a willingness to find creative solutions when a target is worth pursuing.
The LA Galaxy complication
There is a second layer of complexity that has nothing to do with salary. The LA Galaxy currently hold Casemiro’s discovery rights in MLS, which gives them priority in any negotiations with the player. Inter Miami cannot simply sign him without addressing that first.
To move forward, Miami would need to compensate the Galaxy for those rights, a standard process in MLS transfers that has precedent. When Marco Reus joined the Galaxy, a similar discovery rights negotiation took place before the deal could be completed. The compensation involved is typically financial, and while it adds another moving part to the transaction, it is not considered an insurmountable obstacle.
The timeline for resolving both the roster spot question and the discovery rights compensation will largely determine how quickly this deal gets done.
What number he might wear
Should Casemiro complete the move, one of the smaller but widely discussed questions is which jersey number he will select. Three numbers carry significance across his career. He wore No. 14 during his time at Real Madrid, a number that is currently unoccupied in Miami. At Manchester United he wore No. 18, which has been vacant since Jordi Alba retired. And for Brazil, he has long worn No. 5, the same number Sergio Busquets wore at Inter Miami before his own departure, the player Casemiro is widely seen as being brought in to replace.
All three options are available. The choice, when it comes, will likely say something about which chapter of his career he sees this move as continuing.
What this means for Inter Miami
Adding Casemiro to a squad that already includes Messi would give Inter Miami one of the most decorated midfield-to-forward combinations in the history of the league. Casemiro’s defensive discipline and his experience winning at the highest level in European football would address one of the more persistent gaps in Miami’s current roster construction.
The club has built its identity around attracting players of generational quality and finding ways to make the finances work afterward. Casemiro fits that model precisely. The deal is not finished, and the obstacles are real, but the direction of travel appears clear. Miami wants him. He wants Miami. What remains is working out the details that MLS requires before any of it becomes official.
