Michael Carrick looks increasingly likely to land the job of Manchester United head coach on a permanent basis after leading the club to the brink of Champions League qualification.
United are in no rush to make a decision before the end of the season, and sources insist that the main focus is on securing a top-five finish in the Premier League. Last weekend’s win at Chelsea kept Carrick’s side in third place, and United could potentially clinch a Champions League spot with just one win from their last five games.
The Old Trafford hierarchy have been hugely impressed by the 44-year-old and his backroom team since he took over in January, winning eight of his 12 matches in charge. Carrick has proved he can handle the pressure of being United’s head coach, and has restored harmony to the club after Ruben Amorim’s tempestuous 14-month reign.
United have carried out background checks on a number of contenders as part of a thorough process but – barring a dramatic late-season collapse – it would be a surprise if they do not hand the job to Carrick.
The club are reluctant to consider any manager who will be busy at the World Cup this summer, effectively ruling out Thomas Tuchel, Carlo Ancelotti, Mauricio Pochettino and Julian Nagelsmann. United are also unlikely to overlook Carrick in favour of Premier League rivals such as Oliver Glasner, Andoni Iraola, Marco Silva or Eddie Howe.
One exceptional candidate who could have changed United’s thinking is Luis Enrique, but the Paris Saint-Germain boss is widely expected to sign a new contract with the current European champions.
The Old Trafford hierarchy have been hugely impressed by Michael Carrick and his backroom team since he took over in January, winning eight of his 12 matches in charge
Yoro fitness hope
United are hopeful that Leny Yoro will be fit to return against Brentford at Old Trafford on Monday night following his late withdrawal from the trip to Chelsea. Yoro sustained a knock in training on Thursday and was ruled out of the 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge, but Confidential understands that the injury is not too serious.
Yoro’s absence against Chelsea exacerbated United’s problems in central defence with Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez unavailable through suspension, and Matthijs de Ligt approaching five months out with a back injury.
It made United’s win over their top-five rivals – and a clean sheet – all the more impressive as Michael Carrick reshuffled the players available to deploy Noussair Mazraoui and Ayden Heaven in central defence.
It also meant that teenage midfielder Jim Thwaites was rewarded with a place on the bench, 24 hours after helping United’s Under 18s reach the FA Youth Cup final. Thwaites, who also impressed Carrick during the recent training camp in Dublin, drove down to London on Saturday morning with first-team coach Travis Binnion who had stayed in Manchester to watch the semi-final win over Crystal Palace.
It was always unlikely that Thwaites would make his senior debut at Chelsea, but there was a spare place on the bench after Mazraoui replaced Yoro, and Carrick was keen to give the youngster some valuable experience.
Maguire will be available against Brentford on Monday night, but Martinez is suspended for another two games.
United are hopeful Leny Yoro will be fit to return against Brentford at Old Trafford on Monday night following his late withdrawal from the trip to Chelsea
Reds pulling their hair out
There was bemusement inside United over the weekend when staff watched on as Brentford’s Dango Ouatarra avoided a red card for a hair pull on Fulham’s Calvin Bassey.
Many at United remain aggrieved that Lisandro Martinez saw red in last week’s home defeat to Leeds, given the official guidance on such a transgression is that it needs to meet a ‘with force’ threshold for a red card to be shown.
Nonetheless, Martinez was given his marching orders on the night and he missed out on the win at Chelsea with any appeal falling on deaf ears.
United’s irritation wasn’t helped when Ouatarra was seen pulling on the hair of Bassey in Saturday’s goalless draw. A free-kick was awarded by Paul Tierney, the same official who sent off Martinez, and Confidential later learned that the FA was satisfied no retrospective action was required for Ouatarra because Tierney and the VAR official that day, Craig Pawson, judged the incident in real time.
United are still aggrieved that Lisandro Martinez saw red in last week’s home defeat by Leeds for his hair-pull on Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Bruno’s love letter
Bruno Fernandes has received huge credit for his performances this season, and particularly as he closes in on breaking the Premier League’s single-season assist record.
But there are many other moments he produces off the pitch that generate so much praise inside the club and his critics never manage to shed light on.
Confidential can share a story from the flash interview zone at Stamford Bridge on Friday night where Fernandes, busy with various media duties, made a special request to United staff to be allowed to speak to Portuguese broadcaster DAZN.
His reasoning? Fernandes knew that United wouldn’t land back in Manchester until 2am and felt guilty about missing his wife Ana’s birthday, so he wanted to send a particularly heartfelt message to her in their native language.
‘It is a special day today,’ he said. ‘It’s my wife’s birthday. Sadly I don’t think I’ll be able to see her today, so I’d like to take this moment to send you a big kiss, wish you a happy birthday and tell you that you’re a remarkable woman, an incredible mother and that I’m so proud to share my life with you.’
It was also noteworthy that Senne Lammens jumped at the chance to speak to legendary Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech, who was at Stamford Bridge undertaking some media work.
While Lammens is not a particularly avid football fan away from games, he considers himself a student of goalkeeping and he has previously been eager to speak to Peter Schmeichel, Edwin van der Sar and now Cech.
Bruno Fernandes sent a heartfelt message to his wife Ana after missing her birthday
No Garna grudge
It wasn’t a great week for United’s one-time ‘bomb squad’. On his first appearance against the club since leaving Old Trafford, Alejandro Garnacho was targeted by the away fans even before he came on as an early substitute in United’s 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge, and then made little impact as he was marked out of the game by Diogo Dalot.
Social media was no kinder as a video quickly circulated of United’s players appearing to ignore the young Argentine as they walked off at the end of the game, and Luke Shaw posted a photo of himself shoving Garnacho to the floor with the caption ‘important win’.
However, insiders say it was done in jest and there is no bad feeling towards the 21-year-old from the majority of the United squad.
They also point out that it’s likely a number of players did shake hands at the final whistle with Garnacho, who remains good friends with Kobbie Mainoo and Amad Diallo. The latter was criticised by fans for posting a photo of a shirt swap with Garnacho when he was an unused substitute in the reverse fixture at Old Trafford in September.
Meanwhile Jadon Sancho – another of the United stars who was banished to train away from the first-team group by Amorim last summer – had another day to forget on loan at Aston Villa as he was introduced as a late substitute and gave the ball away twice in two minutes as Sunderland levelled at 3-3.
Fortunately for Sancho, who will be a free agent when his £250,000-a-week contract at United runs out at the end of June, Villa scored a late decider to win 4-3.
Over in Spain, Marcus Rashford’s future at Barcelona remains up in the air as the Catalans continue to haggle with United over his £26m fee. Barca missed out on the Champions League semi-finals despite winning away at Atletico Madrid, where Rashford started on the bench.
At least Antony got on the scoresheet for Real Betis, where he is on loan this season, but the Seville club exited the Europa League at the hands of Braga.
Manchester United’s players seemed to enjoy getting one over Alejandro Garnacho on Saturday night – but the club deny there are any hard feelings
United’s Real deal?
United sources are not pushing back on the suggestion that Aurelien Tchouameni is a potential target this summer, while it’s understood that Eduardo Camavinga is another Real Madrid midfield star who could be shopped around this summer.
Madrid are locked onto the idea of signing a new midfielder (as previously revealed in a Q&A for this column, Rodri, Enzo Fernandez and Adam Wharton are all under consideration) and it seems likely that Tchouameni or Camavinga will need to make way for that to happen.
Confidential has been mixing with the sporting elite at the Laureus Awards in Madrid over recent days, and football legends from Luis Figo to Ruud Gullit and Marcel Desailly share the opinion that the current version of Real Madrid does not work in tandem like it should, particularly in midfield.
‘You have the problem that the players’ link-up play isn’t working, even though they’re all talented,’ mused Laureus ambassador Desailly, who was in Madrid to attend Monday night’s glamorous 2026 awards.
United are planning a midfield rebuild this summer, with Manuel Ugarte likely to follow Casemiro out of the club, and will strengthen with more than one new signing. They are believed to be monitoring Southampton’s Shea Charles and had a scout at St Mary’s last week to see the Northern Ireland international in action against Blackburn.
United sources are not pushing back on the suggestion that Real Madrid’s Aurelien Tchouameni is a potential target this summer
Glazers’ $1bn stadium bill
As if trying to find funding for a £2billion rebuild of Old Trafford isn’t hard enough for the Glazer family, United’s owners are also facing a $1bn bill to upgrade the home of their NFL franchise the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Glazers are in talks with Tampa Sports Authority over renovating Raymond James Stadium, where England play New Zealand in a World Cup warm-up match on June 6.
The stadium, which opened in 1998, has hosted three Super Bowls but is in need of work. The Glazers must decide by the end of January 2027 if they want to take up the option of an additional five-year lease.
Buccaneers’ chief Brian Ford said: ‘We met recently with the Tampa Sports Authority, Hillsborough County, and the City of Tampa to discuss developing a long-term plan that supports the stadium’s ability to continue hosting major events which contribute to the success of our region.’
Although United are expected to receive public funding for the wider regeneration project around Old Trafford, the cost of building Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s 100,000-capacity ‘Wembley of the North’ will require private investment. The club are hopeful of striking a deal with Freightliner to acquire land at the back of Old Trafford and submitting a planning application sometime next year.
The Glazers are in talks with Tampa Sports Authority over renovating Raymond James Stadium, home of the Buccaneers. But it will come at a cost of around $1bn
Sign of the times for £60k
As United prepare to rebuild Old Trafford for the future, a piece of the stadium’s famous past will be up for auction next Tuesday with a guide price of £60,000.
An original ‘Manchester United Football Club’ sign that was mounted on top of the Stretford End and removed when the ground was redeveloped in 1992, will go under the hammer at Graham Budd auctioneers in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire.
The three-feet high sign is believed to have been given to Sir Matt Busby’s barber by the legendary United manager, and is now being sold by a private vendor.
The lots include a pair of Cristiano Ronaldo’s golden Nike Vapor boots which are said to have been thrown in the bin by the superstar after training and fished out by the club’s old cleaner Tony Heywood.
The boots have a guide price of £15,000, as does Ronaldo’s black away jersey from a game against Liverpool at Anfield in 2005. Andrei Kanchelskis’ green and gold No 14 shirt from the 1994 League Cup final defeat by Aston Villa is listed at £5,500.
Pally jibe is Best forgotten
Facing flak has always been a fact of life for footballers, and nowhere more so than United where ex-players like Roy Keane and Paul Scholes are never shy in offering an opinion.
Very little has changed in that regard at Old Trafford, and Gary Pallister recalls the painful experience of being told that he wasn’t fit to wear the shirt by none other than George Best. Pallister revealed to Confidential this week that it happened during his first season at United in 1989-90 after joining from Middlesbrough for £2.3million – then a British record transfer fee for a defender long before United paid Leicester £80m for Harry Maguire.
Alex Ferguson was under big pressure after signing Pallister, Paul Ince, Neil Webb, Mike Phelan and Danny Wallace that summer. ‘He’d spent a shedload of money on five players and that season was pretty dire – apart from winning the FA Cup at the end of it,’ says Pallister, now 60.
‘Dark times, tough times. So I’ve been where some of their players have been when the flak’s flying and you’re getting pointed at; articles in papers that you’re a waste of money, and what are you doing at Manchester United, all that kind of stuff.
‘It goes with the territory. I see some of the players snap back when pundits are having a go, but you’ve got to learn to deal with that. I remember George Best doing an article on me saying I wasn’t up to scratch for Manchester United.
‘Wow! Deal with that. I got to know George a bit later on down my path at United, but it’s hard to deal with when players of that ilk are having a go. You just get on with your job and believe in the talent that you have.’
Gary Pallister recalls being told he wasn’t good enough to wear the United shirt – by George Best!
AFMUP dinner a big hit
The first event of the year organised by the Association of Former Manchester United Players was a big success at Old Trafford on Thursday night.
Ex-captains Bryan Robson and Steve Bruce took part in a Q&A, and a silent auction raised £13,000 towards replacing the £40,000 annual donation to the AFMUP that has been withdrawn by Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
The top item was a miniature replica of the statue of former United assistant manager Jimmy Murphy which stands outside the Stretford End, and it was bought for nearly £4,000. Other lots included an autographed Ronaldo boot and a Bruno Fernandes chair adorned with a shirt signed by the United skipper.
A lot of work has gone in to supporting the AFMUP and 350 guests attended the event. It’s hoped that there will be another big turnout for the second dinner of the year in September.
And finally …
Ahead of Wednesday night’s Under-18 Premier League Cup Final, which sees United play Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, two stars of that team have sat down to speak to a small group of academy reporters, including Confidential.
Jim Thwaites and Dan Armer were great value and you can read their thoughts on dailymail.com at 8am on Wednesday morning!
