Michael Carrick set to become permanent Manchester United manager
Michael Carrick is poised to be offered the Manchester United job on a permanent basis after steering the club back into the Champions League – a turnaround that has impressed both the boardroom and the dressing room.
United’s hierarchy had deliberately delayed any talks about removing the “interim” tag. The brief was simple and ruthless: get the club into Europe’s elite competition, then we talk. Carrick has delivered.
Sunday’s wild 3-2 win over Liverpool did more than ignite Old Trafford. It locked in a top-five finish and pushed Carrick’s league record to 10 wins and two draws from 14 matches. Inside the club, the feeling is clear: the job is now his to refuse.
Boardroom belief, dressing-room backing
Jason Wilcox, the football director, and chief executive Omar Berrada have been quietly tracking every step of Carrick’s tenure since he replaced Ruben Amorim in January. Results matter, but so does the mood of a squad that had looked fractured and flat earlier in the season. On both counts, Carrick has shifted the dial.
Executives have noted how quickly the players have rallied behind him, how training has sharpened, how the atmosphere has lightened. They know the message coming back from the dressing room: keep him.
Matheus Cunha became the latest to nail his colours to the mast after scoring the opener against Liverpool. The forward spoke openly about Carrick’s influence, describing how he commands the “full of confidence of the group” and how his work on the bench and in training “is amazing”. Cunha even linked Carrick’s presence to echoes of the Sir Alex Ferguson era, calling him “a pleasure” to work with and insisting “he deserves it.”
He is not alone. Captain Bruno Fernandes and former skipper Harry Maguire are also understood to be privately pushing for Carrick to be confirmed as the club’s No 1, a powerful endorsement from two of the most influential voices in the squad.
The executives have their benchmark. The players have made their preference clear. Carrick has met the target that mattered most.
Now the decision that once looked distant has arrived at United’s door: do they simply remove the interim tag and let the man who has steadied the club lead them back into Europe’s biggest stage?
