Man Utd Identify ‘Leading Candidate’ to Replace Michael Carrick
The future is looking increasingly grim for Michael Carrick following Manchester United’s dismal start to the current campaign.
Before, it had merely been sunshine and rainbows for the former United midfielder on the Old Trafford touchline, with his stellar work as interim boss during the second half of last season convincing INEOS that he was the right man to lead the club forward.
But this is a job unlike most, and it doesn’t take much for the narrative to shift. A hero in May, skepticism has festered after a run of dreadful performances and results, with the balance Carrick established upon his return in January suddenly lost.
The Red Devils are in a fully-fledged crisis, and there’s no doubt that Carrick’s seat will continue to warm until things improve. The knives are being sharpened, with disharmony seeping into the dressing room.
Here are five managers INEOS could target should they consider another change in the dugout.
Eddie Howe
Howe left Newcastle United in the summer. / David Davies/PA Images/Getty Images
Eddie Howe is lurking in the background like the replacement car on a Top Gear challenge. The Englishman departed Newcastle United in the summer, deeming himself not to have the requisite energy to rebuild the Magpies after their summer exodus.
Howe’s work was impressive on Tyneside, guiding Newcastle, with the help of Saudi support, away from the drop zone and back among Europe’s elite. The club twice competed in the Champions League under his stewardship and earned its first piece of major silverware in 56 years via the League Cup in 2025.
Howe’s a Newcastle hero, and his body of work at St. James’ Park, not to mention Bournemouth’s rags-to-riches story, suggests he should at least intrigue a club of United‘s standing.
Howe’s unlikely to garner huge excitement, and supporters will undoubtedly question the 48-year-old’s ability to cope with the incomparable demands of managing at Old Trafford. As grand as Newcastle are, the Red Devils are a different beast entirely.
Julian Nagelsmann
Nagelsmann’s stock has dipped. / Zhizhao Wu/Getty Images
Once a hipster’s favorite, Julian Nagelsmann’s stock has dwindled in recent years.
Nagelsmann was once one of soccer‘s hottest coaching properties, revolutionizing Hoffenheim and later guiding RB Leipzig to the Champions League semifinals in 2020.
The German’s framework was thrilling, with his focus on central combinations getting the best out of playmakers and facilitating some divine possession sequences. However, since moving up the food chain, the rather obsessive Nagelsmann has struggled.
His man management came under scrutiny at Bayern Munich, and although his stint with the German national team started brightly, it ended in disaster at the 2026 World Cup.
The 39-year-old can still intrigue those who love their X’s and O‘s, but the majority should doubt whether he’s capable of successfully leading United. His pre-existing relationship with Christopher Vivell, director of recruitment at Old Trafford, means the German is reportedly in the picture if the club seeks a Carrick replacement.
The Telegraph have named him as a “leading candidate” for the post—should it become vacant.
Fabian Hürzeler
Flavor of the month. / James Gill/Danehouse/Getty Images
Few managers are more coveted than Fabian Hürzeler right now. The German has entered his third campaign at the helm of Brighton & Hove Albion, helping the Seagulls qualify for the Conference League by virtue of an eighth-place Premier League finish last term.
However, a 3–0 victory over champions Arsenal earlier this season means Hürzeler is garnering more attention than ever before. He’s been on talkSPORT explaining how he masterminded such an emphatic victory over a seemingly infallible unit, and his team have also been the subject of an array of thought pieces regarding the direction of man-to-man pressing.
Those who have moved on from Nagelsmann are pivoting to Hürzeler, and the young German is certainly an impressive talker.
Brighton continue to go from strength to strength, meaning there’s no doubt the former St. Pauli boss will soon be linked with the most lucrative managerial roles in the sport.
Unai Emery
Emery is rebuilding at Aston Villa. / Marc Atkins/Aston Villa FC/Getty Images
There are very few things in life that Unai Emery loves more than a rebuild, and the Spaniard has a big job on his hands at Aston Villa.
Emery has done it once before, inheriting a group of players bereft of self-belief after 11 months with Steven Gerrard and swiftly allowing them to dream again. The roster that returned the Villans to the Champions League and claimed Europa League glory at the end of last season is no more, with six of the players who lined up against Freiburg in May leaving the club in the summer.
Their core was gutted, but adequately replaced (for the most part anyway). Villa had toiled through the first month of the season, but they have now hit their stride once again with some morale-boosting, high-scoring victories.
Some questioned whether Emery could stomach a second rebuilding job at Villa Park, but unlike Howe at Newcastle, the Spaniard is relishing the challenge.
The links to United have so far been tenuous, and it’d take some serious convincing for the 54-year-old to leave the West Midlands anytime soon.
Cesc Fàbregas
Como have soared under Fàbregas. / Marco Iacobucci/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
Cesc Fàbregas and the Como hierarchy are almost freakishly aligned. The level of competence across the board is genuinely unique, and explains why the burgeoning Italian club have soared to such lofty heights in a short space of time.
Fàbregas may well be the next best thing in management, if he isn’t already. He certainly did his reputation no harm when Como thrashed Carrick’s woeful United 4–1 in their recent Champions League match-up.
The former Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea midfielder commands the room and is tactically ahead of the curve. He seems to have a good grasp of where the sport is heading, and why wouldn’t he? He spent his playing career working with the likes of Arsène Wenger, Pep Guardiola, José Mourinho and Antonio Conte.
Fàbregas’s work at Como is bound to garner plenty of attention, but why on earth would he want to desert his current utopia? He rejected United during his playing days, committing to Barcelona in 2013, before joining Chelsea a year later, and he would surely shun the poisoned chalice again.
