Erik ten Hag hinted that Casemiro could stay at Manchester United this season if he is prepared to be a team player.
There was speculation at the start of the transfer window that the Brazilian could be on his way out of Old Trafford, with some Saudi Pro League clubs interested in his signature.
However, those offers look to have dried up after he struggled in his second Premier League campaign, at times having to be deployed as an emergency centre-back due to injuries.
He was also dropped for the FA Cup final win; he was initially named on the bench but was later taken off the team sheet with United saying he was injured.
Though Ten Hag seems to have contradicted that notion of the club, he praised Casemiro's leadership qualities, hinting that he could be set for a third year in Manchester.
"You have to make choices – what was needed for that particular game [the FA Cup final]," he said in an interview with The Guardian. "But he is a very important player.
"He is a leader, and he can make a difference for our team. No one can play every game. It's impossible.
"All the players who are here, if they want to play for us, want to play for the bench, and they have the quality, then I hope they keep contributing to our team. We have seen that Casemiro in his career is so successful."
Casemiro has played in all of United's pre-season friendlies so far, managing 61 minutes against Real Betis in San Diego on Wednesday.
He scored the Red Devils' third goal in that game, but also had the most touches (67) and completed the most accurate passes (48/78) of anyone on the team.
Japan 0-3 Spain: Fermin stunners send La Roja into Olympic semi-finals
Spain saw off Japan 3-0 to reach the semi-finals of the Paris Olympics thanks to Fermin Lopez's superb double and a harsh VAR call.
Barcelona youngster Fermin, who played a bit-part role as Spain won Euro 2024, slammed in a sublime strike in each half of Friday's quarter-final in Lyon.
Having beat the despairing dive of Leo Kokubo with a long-range left-footed effort in the 11th minute, Fermin took centre stage again midway through the second half as he lashed in with an expertly controlled volley after taking the ball down on his chest.
Matters could have been vastly different had a first-half equaliser for Japan been allowed to stand, however.
Mao Hosoya brilliantly spun Pau Cubarsi to arrow home, only for the goal to be disallowed for the forward's right foot to have been millimetres offside as he tussled with the Spanish centre-back.
Hosoya was denied by Spain goalkeeper Arnau Tenas late on, but La Roja added gloss to an ultimately convincing win when captain Abel Ruiz poked in from close range after Japan failed to clear their lines from a set-piece.
Kota Takai struck the crossbar in one last fruitless attempt for Japan, and Spain will now ready themselves for a last-four tie with Morocco.
Data Debrief: Fabulous Fermin
Spain have one of the strongest squads at the tournament, and Fermin is possibly the standout.
He showed all his quality with his fantastic long-range finishes, which came from a combined expected goals (xG) of just 0.03.
Fermin had five shots in total, and hit the target with four of them, as he moved into joint-second place in the goalscoring charts with three, behind Morocco's Soufiane Rahimi.
Ancelotti unlikely to take another club role after Real Madrid
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has suggested he will not join another club once his tenure at the Santiago Bernabeu comes to an end.
Ancelotti is three years into his second stint at Madrid, and he has led Los Blancos to a swathe of success since re-joining the Spanish giants from Everton.
Madrid have won LaLiga and the Champions League twice each since 2021, with Ancelotti the first coach to win the latter trophy on five occasions.
The 65-year-old, who had been linked with the Brazil job, signed fresh terms with Madrid to extend his stay until the end of the 2025-26 season.
And he does not foresee himself taking up another club job, while he also hinted international coaching may not be for him either.
Speaking on the Obi One Podcast, as reported by The Athletic, Ancelotti said: "I think it will be my last club, I have to say.
"If there would be an opportunity for a national team, I don't know. I’m not so excited to be in a national team because of the fact that I would lose what I like most, the day-by-day [training].
"The day-by-day I like. To be here, to prepare the training, to talk to the players, to prepare the games.
"This is my 29th season as a coach. It's true that I have won a lot but imagine the number of titles I lost. I lost a lot."
Ancelotti has coached in each of Europe's top five leagues, though he admitted finding it difficult to fully adapt to life in Germany when he was in charge of Bayern Munich.
"I had luck, I went to the best team in England, in Spain, in Germany. But I was able to adapt to the culture," he said.
"I tried to learn the languages. I learned English, Spanish, French; I was not able to learn German, it's impossible — not difficult, impossible!"
Madrid take on rivals Barcelona in a friendly in the United States on Saturday. They start their LaLiga title defence against Real Mallorca on August 18, though before that they face Atalanta in the Super Cup.
Morocco 4-0 United States: Atlas Lions run riot to reach Olympic semi-finals
Morocco cruised into the semi-finals of the Olympic Games with a dominant 4-0 win over the United States on Friday.
Achraf Hakimi scored a stunner, with Soufiane Rahimi, Ilias Akhomach and El Mehdi Maouhoub also netting in an emphatic victory as the USA failed to mount a threat.
Nathan Harriel upended Rahimi in the box just before the half-hour mark and the forward made no mistake from 12 yards, stroking the ball just out of Patrick Schulte's reach into the bottom-left corner.
The USA should have equalised in the 59th minute but Walter Zimmermann's nod-down was skewed well wide by Miles Robinson from close range.
Just four minutes later, Morocco doubled their lead – Akhomach darted in behind to rifle Abde Ezzalzouli's drilled cross in at the near post.
Hakimi will take most of the plaudits though, with the Paris Saint-Germain star winning an aerial duel before carrying the ball from the halfway line to the edge of the box and picking out the bottom corner with pinpoint accuracy.
Harriel's sorry day continued as he was penalised harshly for a handball after a VAR check in the 90th minute, and Maouhoub emphatically fired in Morocco's fourth.
Data Debrief: Atlas Lions roar
Tarik Sektioui could not have asked for a better performance from Morocco, as they outplayed the USA at the Parc des Princes.
They created 2.53 expected goals from their 15 shots, hitting the target with eight of those, and converted all three of their big chances.
One thing is for sure, they will feel very confident going into the final four where they will face either Japan or Spain.
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