Inter Miami could be forced to pay £750,000 to secure Casemiro signing despite leaving Man United on a free

Inter Miami could be forced to pay around £750,000 to LA Galaxy as they wrap up the signing of Casemiro, it has been reported.

Casemiro is set to join the Florida-based club when his contract at Manchester United expires at the end of this month, but it appears they may have to splash a six-figure sum to get their man.

It is believed the club will need to pay MLS rivals LA Galaxy around £750,000 in compensation due to discovery rights.

For those unaware, each club in the United States' top tier can put five players on their discovery lists.

LA Galaxy, meanwhile, hold these rights for Casemiro, giving them priority to negotiate under MLS regulations.

The Brazil international had previously engaged in discussions with LA Galaxy, according to The Mirror, and proposals were shared as they tried to convince him to join.

But a visit to see family in Miami changed his mind. He is expected to sign for Inter as a free agent during the secondary transfer window, which runs from July 13 to September 2.

What are discovery rights? MLS have explained all...

The controversial process has been criticised in the past, although they are fairly common.

When Marco Reus joined LA Galaxy from Borussia Dortmund in 2024, for example, the club had to pay $400,000 in compensation to Charlotte FC, who had placed the German on their discovery list.

LA Galaxy had to fork out on compensation due to discovery rights. Image credit: Getty

Here's how MLS describes the discovery process on its official website.

It reads: "Pursuant to the discovery process, clubs may scout and sign players who are not yet under contract to MLS and who are not subject to another assignment mechanism (e.g., MLS SuperDraft).

"To sign a player through the discovery process, the club must first place the player on its discovery list. A club may have up to five players on its discovery list at any time and may remove or add players at any time.

"There is no limit to how many players a club can sign from its discovery list. Players who were previously on the Allocation Ranking List are now eligible for the discovery process. Players transferred out of Major League Soccer will become discoverable one week from when the player's ITC is permanently transferred and the League has notified all clubs."

It adds: "If one or more clubs attempt to add the same player to their respective discovery lists, the club that filed the claim on the earlier date will have the priority right to sign the player. If one or more clubs submit a discovery request on the same day, then the club with the lowest points-per-game in the current MLS regular season (all clubs must have played a minimum of three regular season games) will have the priority right to sign the player.

"If a club wants to sign a player on the discovery list of another club that has higher discovery priority on the player, it may offer that club $50,000 in General Allocation Money in exchange for the right to sign the player.

"The club with the player on its discovery list will then have five days (or three days during the Secondary Transfer Window) to either (i) accept the General Allocation Money and pass on the right to sign the player or (ii) make the player a genuine, objectively reasonable offer."