Manchester United have sacked Michael Carrick as their head coach with the team in the Premier League’s relegation zone and lined up Mauricio Pochettino to take over.
Pochettino has a framework agreement to join a club who have one win from their past 11 matches. The USA head coach, a Premier League manager with Southampton, Tottenham and Chelsea, has a release clause of about $10m (£7.5m). United will have to pay more to take his staff.
Carrick’s departure comes with United third from bottom of the Premier League, a point behind 17th-placed Coventry, and 17th in the Champions League standings. His exit follows a review led by the director of football, Jason Wilcox, and a recommendation to Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who controls sporting policy. Wilcox and United’s CEO, Omar Berrada, travelled to Monaco to meet with Ratcliffe.
Carrick’s sacking was then signed off at a board meeting involving the Glazer family. Carrick turned up for work on Thursday morning – as he has done each day this week with his fate in effect sealed.
United said: “After a disappointing start to the season, the club has come to the extremely difficult conclusion that a change is necessary in order to achieve our ambitions. Michael is, and always will be, a Manchester United legend. Just as he did as a player, he has conducted himself with the highest standards of dedication and professionalism throughout his time back with the club. His leadership and achievements last season will always be fondly remembered.”
Eddie Howe, out of a job since leaving Newcastle in July, had been on Wilcox’s radar as a replacement for Carrick and the former Germany and Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann was the initial choice of Christopher Vivell, the director of recruitment. But United have targeted Pochettino, who left Chelsea in May 2024 and took the USA job four months later.
Carrick was given the job in May on a contract to 2028 after a successful interim spell during which he secured Champions League qualification. He won 12 and drew three of his 17 games last season but has been unable to continue that trend.
United have only three victories so far this season in all competitions – at home to Ipswich, Sabah and Roma. They twice fought back from two goals down last Sunday to salvage a late point in a 4-4 home draw with Aston Villa, after a dramatic recovery to beat Roma, but the club concluded a change was needed.
Carrick was allowed three games after a 3-0 home defeat by Bournemouth to prove he remained the right person for the job but United felt after the performances against Roma, Villa and in an initial 2-0 loss at Chelsea that they were on wrong path and that another coach could get far more from the squad. They consider 18th place in the Premier League unacceptable.
The sacking continues a period of turmoil at United also marked by Bruno Fernandes challenging Carrick’s strategy after a 4-1 Champions League defeat at Como and Martínez criticising Wilcox.
Since Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013 the club have appointed eight managers, including Ralf Rangnick, who had a five-month interim spell. Carrick is the second head coach fired by United in one calendar year, after Ruben Amorim went in January, a first for the club.
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