Michael Carrick says his future as Manchester United manager will be decided soon
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Manchester United's interim manager Michael Carrick clasping hands with Bruno Fernandes after the English Premier League match with Sunderland on May 9.
PHOTO: AFP
- Michael Carrick's future as Manchester United manager will be decided soon, with media reports suggesting he's offered the permanent role. He expressed pride in helping the club.
- Carrick aims for a top-three Premier League finish, needing one point against Nottingham Forest to seal it. He's proud of securing Champions League football.
- Casemiro is fit for his final Old Trafford game before leaving. Defender Matthijs de Ligt faces months out after back surgery, missing the World Cup.
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LONDON – Michael Carrick said his future as Manchester United manager will be decided soon, as he looks to end the season on a high with a top-three Premier League finish, four places above their position in January when he took over as interim head coach.
The 44-year-old Englishman helped United clinch 10 wins in 15 top-flight games to ensure a place in next season’s Champions League. A point against Nottingham Forest on May 17 will seal United’s third-place finish.
“The future for me is going to be decided pretty soon. We knew that was going to be towards the end of the season, if not the end of the season, so nothing’s changed,” he told reporters on May 15, ahead of their final home game of the campaign.
“There's no big swing on that. That is what it is, you know. Obviously, whatever’s beyond that is pretty close around the corner anyway.”
Media reports have said that Carrick, a former United midfielder who won the Premier League, Champions League, Europa League, FA Cup and League Cup during a successful 12-year spell, has already been offered the role of permanent manager.
The club had been linked with a host of potential managers in recent months, but chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox are expected to recommend Carrick’s appointment to co-owner Jim Ratcliffe.
“It’s a unique football club, special, special football club,” added Carrick, who had a brief stint as the club’s caretaker manager in 2021 before managing Middlesbrough in the second tier.
“I’m immensely proud to have come back and to be part of it, to help as a supporter. As an ex-player and an ex-employee is one thing, but as a pure supporter and caring about the club so much, to be in a position to come back and help as a group to move forward was important.”
United have not won the Premier League since Alex Ferguson’s final season in charge in 2013.
A host of top managers, including Jose Mourinho and Louis van Gaal, have failed to restore the Red Devils to the summit of English football.
United midfielder Casemiro, who is set to leave in the close season after four years at the club, called for Carrick to be retained as permanent manager earlier in May, along with teammates like Amad Diallo and Benjamin Sesko.
The Brazilian veteran is set for an emotional farewell. Carrick said that Casemiro, who missed last weekend’s trip to Sunderland, will be fit for his last game at Old Trafford.
Striker Sesko, who also missed the Sunderland game, is not fully fit, the manager added.
Dutch centre-back Matthijs de Ligt is likely to face months more on the sidelines and miss the World Cup, as United announced on May 15 that the 26-year-old had undergone surgery for a back injury that has kept him out since November.
Asked to evaluate the season, Carrick said he was happy with the improvement United have made after finishing 15th in the Premier League last season.
“I think, to make the big step to get back into the Champions League is good... and I’m absolutely happy with the work that we’ve done so far,” he said.
United will end the season with a trip to Brighton & Hove Albion on May 24. REUTERS, AFP
