Casemiro joins Major League Soccer side Inter Miami - but South Florida club being investigated amid tampering allegations
Updated 23/07/2026 at 14:26 GMT+1
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Casemiro has signed for Major League Soccer side Inter Miami, where he will join Lionel Messi after his four-year spell with Manchester United came to an end. But Major League Soccer (MLS) says it is investigating allegations of tampering.
‘I want to help Leo’ - Casemiro pays tribute to Messi after joining Inter Miami
Video credit: SNTV
Casemiro, 34, enjoyed a strong final season with United, but left the club at the end of the 2025/26 campaign.
He played all five of Brazil's matches at the FIFA World Cup, taking his total number of caps to 91.
The former Real Madrid midfielder becomes Inter Miami's latest star signing, after the likes of Messi, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba made the switch to Florida.
"What motivates me the most, and I think this is true for every player, is winning and continuing to grow, Casemiro told Miami's official website.
"The project the club presented to me, along with the effort everyone made to bring me here, means a lot to me.
"I’m incredibly grateful, and I can’t wait to get started so I can repay that trust - not only during the 90 minutes on match day, but every day in training as well.
"All I can say is thank you, and I’ll give everything I have to return the affection and confidence the club has shown me."
But shortly after the deal was announced came the dramatic development that the MLS was reviewing a tampering allegation against the Miami club.
The MLS said: "The league is gathering all relevant information and will refrain from further comment until the review is complete.
"While Inter Miami CF and the LA Galaxy have reached a settlement for the discovery priority [first rights] to sign Casemiro, the terms will be released upon conclusion of the tampering investigation."
A club can list up to five players at any given moment and is free to add or remove names as it chooses.
Inter Miami and MLS both stated that the club had secured Casemiro’s discovery rights from LA Galaxy, but neither explained the mechanism or terms behind that move.
Meanwhile, the club's co-owner, David Beckham, gave his verdict on the signing, saying: "I’m very proud to welcome Casemiro and his family to Inter Miami. He is a person and a player that I have admired for a long time.
"He is a winner who has achieved so much in the game and after such an incredible career with Real Madrid and Manchester United, I’m delighted that he’s decided to make Miami his next home."
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Casemiro won the UEFA Champions League five times with Real Madrid, and was then part of United teams that won the League Cup and FA Cup.
He earned the plaudits of manager Michael Carrick after confirming his exit before the end of last season.
"Experience is a great thing if you use it in the right way," Carrick said. "And I think over time, being a senior player here is almost the responsibility of the example and helping the young players, helping the rest of the boys and passing on your experiences in a positive way.
"He's been top since I came in, in so many ways, and he's been a pleasure to work with. He's playing as good a level as he's played at for some time, I think, at the moment.
"It's great to see, you know, in so many ways, I said, the experience, technically, game understanding, just composure in certain moments. He's in a really good place."
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