Casemiro has revealed Carlo Ancelotti's emotional reaction to his Real Madrid exit to him reconsidering joining Manchester United.
The Red Devils forked out £60million to sign the midfielder in 2022 - just months after he won his fifth Champions League title with Los Blancos.
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United fans quickly took to the Brazilian, who scored seven goals in his first season - including in the Carabao Cup final win over Newcastle.
But the 32-year-old has stated he almost made a U-turn on his decision to make the move to Old Trafford at the eleventh hour following his goodbye conversation with Ancelotti.
Speaking to El Chiringuito de Jugones, he said: "I had won everything. It’s not that I wasn’t going to keep pushing, but I wanted to try new things.
"They didn’t let me leave so easily, but I wanted to learn a new language and play in another league. United had behaved very respectfully from day one.
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"I decided to leave a little after winning the Champions League. I already saw that my time at Madrid was over, I was at a good age to leave and I wanted to continue to grow.
"The decision was not easy at all, people loved me. I had doubts only once. Actually I will tell you something here that I have never told anyone.
"I had only one moment where I doubted about leaving Madrid for Manchester United.
"I remember it was a Friday and almost everything was done, the only thing that was missing was my signature and I just had to do my medical. But it was already done.
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"I went to talk to the Mister [Ancelotti] because I was supposed to train, but I couldn’t train [because the transfer was imminent]. People knew the transfer was done, but I still had to be there.
"And so I go to talk to Ancelotti and he already knew I was leaving. I entered his office and when he turned around I saw he was crying. Ancelotti was crying.
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"And I am thinking, 'Why are you crying? No, you can’t be crying.' And Carlo told me that he didn’t want me to leave and that he loved me very much, and in that moment I doubted [the move] and realised how many people loved me here.
"But I had already committed to it, I had given my word [to United] and my word is more important than anything. But that was the one moment."
Despite starring in his opening season in England, Casemiro has struggled for consistency this term - leading Jamie Redknapp to label his latest display against Bournemouth as a 'Soccer Aid' performance.
Still, the player has no regrets over his switch to the Premier League when asked how he is enjoying his time at United.
He remarked: "Very good, phenomenal. Everything is going very well, everything is perfect.
"The Premier League is incredible, it is very nice to play in. My family’s adaption is also going well. Everything is great."