Sir Alex Ferguson once described Brazilian footballers as “born for the big occasion”.Given their recent performance in the World Cup, that may not always be true. They exited at the last-16 stage after defeat by Norway, and have not won the tournament since 2002.But in the former Manchester United manager’s defence, he said that in 2013 in his second autobiography. Those born for the big occasion are surely also made for playing at Old Trafford.But United’s Brazilian buys have been something of a mixed bag. Even two signed in the same summer — Casemiro and Antony — would leave very different impacts on the club and depart with their reputations at different ends of the spectrum.“I have always respected Brazilian footballers,” Ferguson wrote. “Name a Brazilian who doesn’t excel in big games? They were born for the big occasion. They have a special quality: deep pride in themselves. Great belief.“No country can apply the rich mix of ingredients you gain from a top Brazilian player. Argentines are deeply patriotic but I found they lack the expressive personalities of Brazilians.”Have United found “a top Brazilian player” this summer in Andrey Santos? Only time will tell. The 22-year-old midfielder has become the 12th Brazilian-born player to sign for the club.When it comes to recruiting players from outside the United Kingdom, United have only signed more than that from three other countries: the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands and France.Kleberson was the first Brazilian through the door, in 2003, but United could have started their relationship with the South American nation a few years earlier.Ferguson explained in A Will to Win, The Manager’s Diary that Ronaldo — the Brazilian one, of course — was offered to United in 1996 by the player’s agent. The deal didn’t come off, as United could not afford his required wages, with Ferguson citing their position as a public limited company in discussions. A year later, the best striker in the world at the time joined Inter of Italy from Spain’s Barcelona for a then world record of just over £20million.In the same summer Kleberson arrived at the club, the chance to land his countryman Ronaldinho presented itself. United thought they had the mercurial Brazilian until a late change of heart led to him choosing Barcelona when he left Paris Saint-Germain.They instead signed Ronaldo in that 2003 window. Portugal’s Cristiano, that is. It would be safe to say things went very differently in Manchester for him and Kleberson.Kleberson, left, and Cristiano Ronaldo are presented as United players in August 2003 (John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)“I think Kleberson won the (2002) World Cup for Brazil,” said Ferguson at the time in a press conference. “I think he was vital to them. Brazil needed someone to stabilise the team.”Yet the midfielder could not settle in the Premier League. A dislocated shoulder just weeks into life in England didn’t help.Someone billed as the perfect partner for Roy Keane and maybe one day a successor to the Irishman, who was captain at the time, would leave the club after only two years, joining Turkey’s Besiktas, having made just 30 appearances. A World Cup winner then, but not a Premier League success.But it didn’t put Ferguson off Brazilians.In 2007, the club beat some of their rivals to capture a winner of the Golden Boy award (given to the best young player at a European club), signing Anderson from Porto of Portugal.The 18-year-old cost around £27million and was billed as an attacking midfielder, but his goal return for United was just nine in 181 appearances, and he was played in a deeper role than had been expected.Anderson’s trophy collection would point to a successful stint, with four league titles, a Champions League (he came on late in extra time and scored in the shootout against Chelsea in 2008), a League Cup and a Club World Cup.Yet injury issues and fitness problems meant perhaps he overstayed his welcome, given he was on a significant wage for the time. But he was a hugely popular figure in the dressing room, and Ferguson really admired him. So good was their relationship that when a viral social media craze called the Ice Bucket Challenge swarmed around the world in 2014, Anderson felt brave enough to nominate the fearsome Scot.Ferguson’s retirement after the 2012-13 season sparked the beginning of the end, and Anderson departed in summer 2015.Around the same time as Anderson, the Da Silva brothers were also brought in when they turned 18. They were recruited from Fluminense’s youth setup back home, giving United identical twins on either side of their back line. Rafael and Fabio had seven and six years at the club, respectively.They were very popular within the club, both helped win trophies and they delivered as full-backs with some flair while being versatile enough to step into midfield if needed. They were tough enough for the rigours of the Premier League, something which was noted in scouting reports before they signed.Rafael became United’s first-choice right-back, but Fabio struggled to displace Patrice Evra on the left. Both were good signings, even if one had the bigger impact.There was a samba feel to the Old Trafford dressing room at the time, and Rodrigo Possebon also arrived in 2008. The Brazilian-born Italian midfielder would make only eight first-team appearances, not helped by getting injured on his debut in a League Cup tie against Middlesbrough, following a tackle from Emanuel Pogatetz, and the competition in midfield at a Champions League-winning and Premier League-dominating side did not make it easy. He left in 2010.How does a World Cup affect the transfer market?Christopher HamillBelgian-born but a Brazil international, Andreas Pereira joined as a 16-year-old, and he graduated from the academy in 2014. United beat Premier League opposition to sign Pereira, and he made 75 appearances across his seven years in the first team, but his time at the club was dotted with loan spells before making a success of himself at Fulham after he left permanently in 2022.In 2018, United battled it out with Manchester City for the signing of Fred. They beat their rivals with a £47million bid to land the combative and high-energy midfielder from Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine.It was a difficult start to life at Old Trafford, as he made just 13 starts in his debut Premier League campaign.But Fred would grow into United, even if he never became the elite defensive midfielder they wanted. Not helped by changes in management, his spell under the final one, Erik ten Hag, was arguably his best, even if he was predominantly used as a substitute in the Premier League.He started four of their six games in the 2022-23 Carabao Cup — including the 2-0 final win over Newcastle United — as he landed his only trophy in five years at the club before departing for Fenerbahce of Turkey that summer. United would miss his energy and ground-covering ability once he departed, even if he was not in the class of the compatriot he played that final season next to: Casemiro.Fred also had fellow Brazilian Alex Telles as a team-mate when United signed the left-back from Porto in 2020. He would have two full campaigns at the club before a loan to Spain’s Sevilla. At a time when full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson were bombing down the flanks for Liverpool, United may have under-utilised the attacking strengths of Telles, who managed eight assists in 50 appearances before a permanent move to Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia in 2023.Five-time Champions League winner Casemiro is the best Brazilian to have played for United. Of that, there can be no doubt.The former Real Madrid man did not have the best years of his career at United, but he had two very fine seasons out of the four he did play at Old Trafford.After arriving in 2022, he was pivotal in United qualifying for the Champions League and winning the Carabao Cup that season, when they also had a run to the FA Cup final. Ten Hag called him the “cement between the stones” in the January of that debut year. Unfortunately, what Ten Hag was trying to build was on shaky foundations, which crumbled quickly in the following campaign, despite an unlikely FA Cup final victory.Casemiro’s fitness was questioned and, when Ruben Amorim arrived as head coach, he found himself behind academy graduate Toby Collyer in the pecking order.A player who had just about won it all could have walked away at that point but Casemiro chose to prove Amorim wrong, fought his way back into the team, helped them reach the Europa League final and then really shone brightly in his final season of 2025-26.Some credit interim head coach Michael Carrick with bringing Casemiro back to his best, but he was already impressing before the former United midfielder took over from Amorim in January.The farewell Casemiro got at the end of the season was akin to that for a title-winning legend, because he had developed into an Old Trafford cult hero. Fans were attracted to how he embraced the club and the city and appeared to really adore playing for United, despite them not being in their greatest period.Casemiro waves farewell to United at the end of last season (Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)The other Brazilian who signed the same summer as Casemiro was Antony. He did not get such a fond farewell.A decent start to life in England brought goals in his first three Premier League games, but a combination of being so heavily dependent on his left foot, issues away from football and United’s sudden drop-off under Ten Hag all conspired against him succeeding, before he left permanently for Real Betis of Spain last summer. Having paid Dutch club Ajax a guaranteed £81.3million for his services, Antony goes down as one of the worst recruits by the club, given the fee in comparison to his impact.Now Santos moves into a midfield hole vacated by Casemiro.The former Chelsea man will have a Brazilian team-mate in Matheus Cunha. The summer 2025 signing from Wolverhampton Wanderers had an impressive debut season, with 10 goals and four assists.Cunha and Santos will continue United’s link with Brazil.If they can match the impact of Casemiro and bring the trophies of Anderson, they will go down as club legends. But they have a long way to go, and plenty of their compatriots have struggled in the red shirt.