Michael Carrick looks set to become permanent Manchester United manager after serving as interim manager
Manchester United's football bosses will table a proposal to give Michael Carrick a permanent head coaching job at an executive committee meeting this week.
Chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox feel Carrick is the right person to lead United's campaign next season and intend to submit their views and suggestions to Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
The Glazer family, which owns the majority of the club's shares, intends for Ratcliffe to take the lead in decision-making on football affairs.
This decision is expected to pave the way for negotiations between Manchester United and Carrick. At the Carrington training base, Carrick participated in the planning meeting, players and staff generally had such expectations that he would officially take office.
Manchester United has been constantly weighing candidates. Andoni Iraura has been included in the investigation list. Unai Emery is also on the investigation list. The relevant staff of the club have started background checks on many candidates.
The club's executives originally planned to wait until the end of the season to make a final decision. However, as the Champions League qualification has been locked in, this matter has been put on the agenda.
Preparations for signings have been carried out in all aspects, and clearly indicating who the coach will choose to those potential new signings is regarded as a very important link in the transfer process.
The team was very obviously influenced by Carrick. After the game where they defeated Liverpool with a score of 3-2 and secured qualification for the Champions League, the one who scored the winning goal…
A week before the game, "The Athletic" had relevant reports. The content of the report was that Carrick met with Ratcliffe, and Ratcliffe "clearly expressed his support" during the meeting.
In January this year, the 44-year-old Carrick returned to Old Trafford to start his second temporary coaching career. He took over Ruben Amorim's class. Before that, Manchester United ranked seventh in the Premier League after two games led by Darren Fletcher. Compared with the arch-rival Manchester City, it was 11 points behind and 5 picks away.
Under the leadership of this former England international, Manchester United's performance has improved significantly. They are now firmly in third place in the league, six points ahead of fourth-placed Liverpool, with only two league rounds left.
The team exited the domestic cup competition early this season, and missed the European competition due to ranking 15th in the league last season. This promotion will be Manchester United's first Champions League competition since the 2023-24 season – when the team failed to qualify from the group stage.
In the autumn of 2021, after Solskjaer dismissed get out of class, Carrick coached Manchester United as the interim coach, leading the team to two wins and one draw, and then left the club. Later, Ralf Rangnick took over as the interim coach until the end of the season. Before returning to Manchester United, Carrick coached Middlesbrough in the British Championship for nearly three years, leading the team to rise from 21st to 4th in the first season.
As a midfielder, he played for Manchester United for 12 years as a player, playing 464 times. He won 5 Premier League championships and 1 Champions League championship.
By convention, at the end of the season, the coach can address the fans after the last game at home. United face Nottingham Forest at home this Sunday, and if Carrick's future identity is clear, he can speak candidly and honestly about his ambitions for next season.
Just like the official announcement of heavyweight new players such as Varane and Casemiro in recent years, officially confirming his identity as the head coach will greatly boost the morale of the stadium. In this way, Carrick can set the corresponding tone for the next few months and maintain the good momentum of the team's continued development in the forward direction.
## Will Carrick become Manchester United's Arteta?
If the official announcement is made after the players are on vacation or preparing for the World Cup, it may cause uncertainty and weaken Carrick's authority. This is just like the situation in 2024 when Ten Hag led the team to win the FA Cup and Manchester United was still looking for a coach.
Manchester United must first start negotiations on a new contract with Carrick and determine the configuration of its coaching team. The existing team is expected to remain in place. It is unclear whether all these things can be finalized before the game against Forest, and the relevant processes cannot be rushed forward.