Ben Jacobs Delivers Update On Michael Carrick's Future at Man Utd

· GiveMeSport

Manchester United are succession-planning with Carrick under pressure

Michael Carrick is a man under pressure already.

Having taken Manchester United by the scruff of the neck following the sacking of Ruben Amorim in January, and guiding the Red Devils to third place in the Premier League with an extraordinary run of form that saw them amass more points in the time he was in charge during the second half of the 2025/26 season than eventual champions Arsenal, Carrick was given the job permanently during the summer.

But as is often the case with caretaker managers, things become much more difficult when they take the reins full-time and that is certainly the case when it comes to Carrick at Old Trafford.

United have won just once in their opening five games, drawing two and losing the other two to sit 12th in the table. They are already ten points adrift of league leaders Manchester City, who have won all of their matches so far.

The start to the campaign has led to many to question if Carrick is the right man for the job at Old Trafford and there have been links with replacing him with Antonio Conte. The Italian has been linked with the Manchester United job a number of times in the past and the former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur boss is reportedly in pole position to come in to the United dugout if a change is made.

GIVEMESPORT senior football correspondent Ben Jacobs delivered an update on Carrick's future at the club on the Market Madness podcast this week, addressing the rumours linking Conte with the post.

Jacobs said:

> "The situation with Michael Carrick is Manchester United continue to back him through the international break.

> "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.

> "But it's a results-driven business, and of course, Manchester United, with both Ruben Amorim and Erik ten Hag, backed the managers only to sack them shortly after. So I would expect Manchester United 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 forwards by Dan Ashworth when he was at Manchester United, it's expected that we'll have this kind of speculation, but as of now, Manchester United 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."

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