COMMENT: Everton at Goodison Park. Sunday should be it. This should be the moment for Erik ten Hag to truly introduce Casemiro to the Manchester United public...

The rumours have been flying. The flak has been incoming. For player. For manager. Even for those upstairs. Week after week. Match after Premier League match. The longer we've all had to wait for Casemiro's full Prem debut, the wilder the speculation has become.

Ten Hag never wanted him, apparently. He's already regretting the move, they claim. And the situation, with a five-time Champions League winner relegated to a super-sub, another clear sign of United's supposed slipshod transfer policy...

Of course, none of this true. Ten Hag rates Casemiro. The Brazil international isn't having second thoughts on this move. And for this column, John Murtough, United's technical director, will be proved right for being nimble enough to pounce for Casemiro as he did in August.

It's simply been circumstances - and Ten Hag's team policy - which has seen Casemiro held back. Starting the Brazilian at Manchester City was never going to happen. United went into the fiasco on a four-match winning run. Scott McTominay, outstanding as he was against Liverpool, had not let standards slip over the course of the next three games. Momentum, in the Premier League, was with United. It was with Ten Hag's team selection. Rejecting hindsight, to tinker going into the City game would've been folly.

But it goes much further than that. Ten Hag is attempting to change the culture at United. He wants to promote a merit based atmosphere through the club. It's why Cristiano Ronaldo isn't being indulged to do his preseason with the campaign now well and truly underway. It was his choice to skip both the preseason tour and the squad's first week back from the Far East. On merit, others deserve their chance ahead of him. And beyond the City shambles, it's been an approach that has produced results.

So Casemiro has had to bide his time. McTominay has deserved his place. On reputation. On record. Of course the Scotland international should instantly make way. But Ten Hag doesn't want to be managing a squad where such a policy is allowed. And those ex-United players who have been demanding the opposite should know better.

Indeed, it shouldn't be lost on any of us that in the aftermath of the City collapse, when so many fingers were pointed at the United manager and his selection, that Donny van de Beek's former agent, Guido Albers, entered the news cycle just at the same time.

Albers was eager to highlight what Van de Beek has had to endure at United since his arrival from Ajax two years ago. It was a culture of personality - not of performance. And we admit, for this column, it was disappointing reading that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ten Hag's predecessor, was culpable in allowing such customs to thrive.

Discussing his former client, Albers recalled: "I saw the disappointment of how he was treated by Manchester United and saw up close what he did to turn the situation around.

"He had to compete with Paul Pogba, who arrived late to training camp, said sorry and was allowed to play again - instead of a guy who trained ten hours a day for eight weeks to show he was good enough.

"Then I had that disappointment thrown at me. I underestimated what the lack of playing time did to him mentally. I should have thought earlier: 'How can I help him?'"

Ten Hag isn't for such an approach. He's not going to select players on reputation. On wages. It'll be on merit. Ronaldo is proof enough of that.

As is Casemiro. His chance will come. And on form. On merit. It should be on Sunday afternoon at Goodison Park. After last week at the Etihad, Ten Hag needs to ring the changes. At the base of United's midfield, it had been McTominay's place to lose. And after his City performance, on merit, it's now something that should happen.

Casemiro's selection will be deserved. Thursday's performance - at least on paper - was impressive. The Brazil international helping United to a scratchy 3-2 Europa League victory at Omonia Nicosia. 82 touches, an 81% pass success rate, 100% successful tackles, seven recoveries and winning all but one of his nine aerial duels. A good, tidy performance in the middle of the park. And it should be enough to earn a start on Merseyside.

From there, it also should be the real start of Casemiro's Manchester United career. The 30 year-old will become an ever present in Ten Hag's selection. He'll become the leader Murtough and co had earmarked. And he'll be the same player that still has his former teammates at Real Madrid lamenting his sudden departure.

And this introduction. This full Prem debut. As much as it has been delayed, it will have been managed the right way. No playing favourites. No indulging reputations. Ten Hag will have done right by all those involved. It's now Casemiro's place to lose.