Tyrell Malacia has confirmed that Casemiro gave away his FA Cup winners' medal following Manchester United's triumph in the final last season, despite media denials at the time.
The Red Devils earned a surprise victory over Manchester City to win English football's oldest competition for the first time since 2016. Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo scored two decisive goals with Jeremy Doku pulling one back for City late on.
Malacia did not play for United last season due to injury, meaning he was not involved in the win at Wembley. He was spotted in the post-match celebrations on the iconic balcony as well as in the group photos on the pitch.
Speaking to The Athletic, Malacia explained that although he did not want to climb the steps, Casemiro insisted that he join his team-mates for the celebrations.
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He recalled: "I was like: 'I’m staying down here and you guys just enjoy it, then I’ll see you in the dressing room'. He was like: 'No you have to go up there as well’. And if someone with that kind of experience tells you that, you’re listening."
"They said: 'At the end of the day, you’re still part of the team'. I’ve been in a dressing room the whole season and seen everything. They know how hard I’ve been working every day to come back to the team and everything."
Malacia added that he was given Casemiro's medal, with the veteran midfielder showing his support for the 25-year-old by handing it over. He added: "Like I said before, if he gives you that, you just listen."
The Dutchman is finally closing in on a return to United's first-team squad, having been sidelined for more than 500 days. He recently played 45 minutes for the under-21s against Huddersfield Town and seemingly got through unscathed.
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Opening up on his experience while recovering from injury, Malacia said: "We had a lot of injuries and my injury needed a lot of attention.
"So with the medical part, at some point we decided: 'OK, you need some extra people around you to help you, to be there working with you every day to focus only on you'.
"I think at the end of the day, everything I did, even if it was a mistake or something, I won’t even see it as a mistake because it’s a lesson. I think everything in life is already written for me. I had to go through this whole process to be where I’m at now.
"Of course, I’ve had some moments where I was like: 'Oh, I’m getting tired of this'. But there’s no way I could ever give up. It’s not my system, it’s not in our family."
