A new season brings new faces to football clubs, and Madridistas will have plenty of those to gaze upon when the new La Liga season kicks off this weekend.

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Madrid start their new campaign, and new era, at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday when Real Betis visit the Spanish capital for Jornada 1, when Carlo Ancelotti and his coaching staff take to the dugout for their first competitive match in charge of Los Blancos. The Italian's summer additions such as Isco and Dani Carvajal could feature, while Asier Illarramendi shouldn't be too far behind.

Madrid fans will also be hoping to see a certain Welshman in the all-white kit before the close of the current transfer window, while Luis Suarez's name won't go away, either. Madrid's summer business may not yet be done.

But while Florentino Perez has been splashing the cash on his new recruits - Illarramendi was understood to have cost £34 million, Isco £23 million and Carvajal around £6 million - Madrid fans should be excited about an addition who, relatively, has gone somewhat under the radar this summer - Casemiro.

Not excited in a way that the young Brazilian is going to cement a first-team place at the Bernabeu and rip La Liga up, but excited at the prospect of the former Sao Paulo man returning to the form that saw some of Europe's biggest clubs vying for his signature not so long ago.

The midfielder's move to the Spanish capital was not one to go by the usual script. Just before the winter transfer window was slamming shut earlier this season, Madrid made the move for the Brazil international on loan - but for Castilla, Madrid's B team.

He played 15 times in the Segunda Division for Castilla and managed to break into Jose Mourinho's plans for one match and one match only, Madrid's 3-1 home victory over Betis in April. Some believed it to be a move to showcase his desire to dip in to Alberto Toril's pool of players despite a minor feud between the pair earlier in the campaign. Possibly, it partly was. The other, more pressing part being the fact Madrid had to travel to Dortmund not long after for their Champions League semifinal.

Casemiro didn't have a bad game, but he didn't have a fantastic game, either, playing alongside Luka Modric in midfield. Nor were his performances for Castilla exceptional, either, at a lower level, but something has persuaded Madrid to chance it with the 21-year-old and part with an albeit-low sum of cash on Madrid's usual scale of transfer activity.

A rough diamond is a well-used phrase in the world of football and it's probably one that can be used for the young Brazilian, who promised it all when he broke onto the scene with Sao Paulo and in turn picked up a full international cap. AC Milan, Juventus, Roma, Arsenal and Tottenham were all clubs linked with his signature and a fee in excess of £10 million was being bandied around.

But the Brazilian club did not need to cash in on one of its prized assets and Casemiro stayed, but his form did not. Some reports in Brazil suggested fame went to his head, he didn't train well and his game suffered. He dropped out of the starting lineup and could not get back in. He played 22 times last year and plenty of those were as a substitute.

He looked like a rising star that was dimming - fast.

The talent was still there, somewhere, but a player who had been tipped to be the beating heart of Brazil for years to come, seemingly was sinking without trace. The interest dropped and he was becoming nothing more than a benchwarmer for a team that he helped make tick not so long ago.

Perhaps he needed a change of scenery, a kick up the backside, so to speak, to get him back on track - and Madrid will be hoping the chance to join them has helped do just that. Casemiro is out of his comfort zone, away from where he came through the youth ranks, away from his friends, and is now, at one of the best setups in world football. If that won't help him focus, nothing will.

So it's exciting to see just how well the Brazil youth captain will do within Madrid's first-team squad this season. Even more so given the rave reviews handed out to him following his performance in Madrid's emphatic 3-0 victory over Inter Milan, which brought their stay in the United States to a successful conclusion.

He showcased his range of passing, producing a brilliant ball for Cristiano Ronaldo to score Madrid's second goal, before he carved open the Inter defence with a superb looping ball with the outside of his boot to put Alvaro Morata away with a good chance that was spurned. Strong defensively and dangerous in the attack, it was Casemiro's best game since arriving at Madrid and one that left Madridistas with plenty of positives about his signing.

In his prime back in his homeland, the hot prospect was somewhat of a destroyer in midfield, but one who could play box-to-box, who could provide the killer pass and who could chip in with the odd goal, too. He produced a couple of sublime long-range goals and had a knack of arriving just at the right time to head home a cross or corner kick.

Back when he was being touted for a big-money move to Europe, his countryman Thiago Silva was all set to welcome him to Milan, saying: "Casemiro is talented and has excellent technique. He is ready for a big club and would be welcome at Milan."

He was a jack-of-all-trades in the middle of the park and had the engine to match. At 21, Madrid will be confident that they can get all of that, and possibly more.

It'll be interesting, therefore, to see just how Ancelotti uses him in the opening weeks of the season. Madrid are blessed with midfielders, especially centrally. Xabi Alonso, Sami Khedira, Modric, Mesut Ozil, Isco. Ronaldo and Angel di Maria can play centrally, too. Then there's Illarramendi to enter the fray as soon as he's fully fit.

Regular first-team contributor or not, it's a big season for Casemiro and one Madridistas should be looking forward to seeing unfold.