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Michael Carrick was poised to become Manchester United interim coach on Tuesday after the Premier League giant turned to its former player to salvage its imploding season.
Carrick was pictured arriving at the club’s Carrington training ground Tuesday morning and was set to sign a contract until the end of the season, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because his appointment is yet to be formally completed.
Carrick, who won five Premier League titles and the Champions League during a trophy-laden playing career at Old Trafford, comes in following the departure of Ruben Amorim last week. Former England assistant coach Steve Holland will be part of Carrick’s coaching team, the person said.
Ex-midfielder Carrick, who was also an assistant coach at United, had an unbeaten three-game spell as interim coach after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was fired in 2021. On this occasion, he was selected ahead of Solskjaer, who was also interviewed for the role.
Carrick’s only other managerial experience was at second-tier Middlesbrough from 2022-25.
By appointing Carrick in a short-term role, United is giving itself time to find a long-term replacement for Amorim, who was fired last week after 14 months in the job.
Iconic former striker Wayne Rooney said Carrick would command the respect of the players.
“Michael is a very clever person and last time did really well,” Rooney said on his podcast.
The priority for Carrick is to secure Champions League qualification after defeat to Brighton in the third round of the FA Cup — United’s first game in the competition — on Sunday put the 20-time English champions on course for a second successive trophyless season.
United also lost its first match in the English League Cup, to fourth-tier Grimsby, and is seventh in the Premier League.
As well as Carrick and Solskjaer, other former United players Darren Fletcher and Ruud van Nistelrooy were also considered. Fletcher has taken charge of United’s two games since Amorim’s departure — a draw at Burnley in the league and the cup loss to Brighton. He is expected to return to his role as youth coach.
Carrick’s first two games at the helm are tough ones — at home to second-place Manchester City in the league on Saturday and away to first-place Arsenal the following weekend.
It will be a big step up for him. His only full-time managerial experience came in the Championship with Middlesbrough, where his reign ended after failing to secure promotion to the Premier League.
It is unlikely Carrick’s time at the helm of United will go beyond the end of the season. The club’s hierarchy is on the hunt for its seventh permanent manager or coach after more than a decade of decline since Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.
Amorim was the latest to fail to lead the club back to the summit of English soccer after David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag.
Carrick was part of one of Ferguson’s greatest teams, which won a Premier League and Champions League double in 2008. In all he won 12 major trophies in 12 years at United.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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