Manchester United are edging closer to the signing of Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro, and his arrival at Old Trafford could allow Erik ten Hag to finally get rid of Scott McTominay.

What's the word?

After links emerged earlier in the week, talks between United and Real Madrid have accelerated, and it now seems likely that the 30-year-old will join Ten Hag's side this summer in a deal potentially rising to €70m (£59.4m).

Fabrizio Romano tweeted on Friday morning: "Manchester United are working to get Casemiro deal approved in the next hours - medical expected within 48 hours, once Real Madrid will approve the proposal. Four-year deal for Casemiro, option for further season also confirmed. €60m & €10m add-ons bid on the table."

Will Casemiro be a good signing?

Casemiro has been a mainstay in Real Madrid's side since signing for Los Blancos from Sao Paulo in 2013. He has gone on to make more than 330 appearances for the club and has won an impressive five Champions League titles, so it is clear that he is a serial winner.

The "world class" midfielder - as described by journalist Josh Bunting - was in excellent form for Carlo Ancelotti's side last season as they won La Liga, making 32 appearances as he averaged a superb 7.26 rating from WhoScored for his performances.

That was the third-highest rating of anyone to feature more than three times in that triumphant league campaign.

The Brazil international vastly outperformed McTominay, who averaged a 6.89 rating in the Premier League. The Scotland international also averaged fewer tackles (2.5 vs 0.8), shots (1.3 vs 0.9) and clearances (1.8 vs 0.8) per game than Casemiro last season, which suggests that the Real Madrid man is a much better defensive midfielder than the 26-year-old.

McTominay's shocking performances in the opening two fixtures of the current campaign - which have seen him average a paltry 6.44 WhoScored rating - emphasise that he is not good enough to be a regular in Ten Hag's midfield.

Paul Scholes was highly critical of the midfielder's performance in the 2-1 defeat against Brighton, saying: "McTominay was always trying to run with the ball, ridiculous. The quality in the middle of the pitch was really poor.

'I was happy he didn't get sent off [for a high challenge] but I think he was slightly lucky. Again he's running with the ball, absolutely ridiculous."

The 25-year-old, who reportedly earns £60k per week at Old Trafford, could well find his game-time limited by the impending arrival of Casemiro; and if the Brazilian's deal goes through in time for him to feature against Liverpool on Monday, the shambolic performance at Brentford - which included one particularly woeful pass - could be the last we see of McTominay in a United shirt.