Man Utd's three Michael Carrick replacements as sack truth revealed

25 Sept 2026 14:32 BST |
3 min read

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Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick finds himself in the firing line following a disappointing start to the season.

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There was plenty of optimism around his appointment as permanent boss after a tremendous interim spell in the second half of last season, but this positivity has quickly dissipated.

Carrick has failed to successfully evolve Man Utd’s playstyle, and despite a whopping summer outlay of €222.7 million, the Red Devils are struggling to reach the required performance levels.

The Old Trafford club have only won once in the Premier League thus far and are already out of the Carabao Cup after surrendering a two-goal advantage against Brighton at home – a first in 50 years.

Performances have been uninspired and lacklustre. Against Fulham last weekend, Man Utd produced, in the words of club legend Gary Neville, “the worst 15 minutes I’ve ever seen,” culminating in a drab 1-1 draw.

Could Carrick be sacked?

The pressure on Carrick is mounting, although a sacking is not believed to be imminent. There have only been five Premier League matchdays, so there is still a lot of football to be played.

Should results and performances not improve between the end of the extended international break and the festive period, Carrick may come under more scrutiny from his higher-ups, but they won’t make a knee-jerk decision in September.

Nevertheless, rumours already abound that Man Utd have begun making contact with possible replacements. Over the past week, reports in Italy have been adamant that Antonio Conte has been approached by INEOS.

The former Chelsea boss remains unattached after his departure from Napoli following the conclusion of last season. Conte appeared to be keen on the Italy job but was seemingly not among the genuine contenders, with the Azzurri ultimately re-hiring Euro 2020 winner Roberto Mancini.

According to Ben Jacobs, reports linking Man Utd with Conte are premature. He retains the backing of the club hierarchy and remains safe in his job for the time being.

“The situation with Michael Carrick is Man Utd continue to back him through the international break,” Jacobs explained on the Market Madness podcast. “Of course, there’s normal succession planning and we’ve heard some reports in Italy suggesting Antonio Conte is being lined up.

“That’s not my understanding at this stage. There’s still support for Carrick. All well-run clubs have to succession plan, but we’re not in a position where there’ll be a knee-jerk reaction to the current form as of now.”

Potential replacements

Nevertheless, Jacobs believes that Man Utd will be “well-prepared” should they be forced to act later this year or in 2027, and there are some high-profile names who could be pursued by the club.

The journalist added: “But it’s a results-driven business, and of course, Man Utd, with both Ruben Amorim and Erik ten Hag, backed the managers only to sack them shortly after. So I would expect Man Utd to be well prepared, and there’s certainly plenty of candidates out there.

“Julian Nagelsmann is a free agent, Simone Inzaghi is at Al-Hilal at the moment, but that may not continue in the long run. And then, when you think about Eddie Howe being a free agent too, who was the candidate that was put forward by Dan Ashworth when he was at Man Utd.

“It’s expected that we’ll have this kind of speculation, but as of now, Man Utd want to continue with Michael Carrick, and that means that after the international break, he’ll have an important run of fixtures as we head towards the Christmas period.”

Because of the prolonged international break, fixtures are coming thick and fast next month. The Red Devils will host struggling Tottenham on 10 October before spending a week on the road with games against Atletico Madrid, rivals Leeds and Como.