Manchester United’s directors will meet in Monaco on Wednesday to consider Michael Carrick’s future after the club’s worst start to a top-flight season since 1986-87.
United have won once in their opening 10 Premier League matches and sit 18th, one point above bottom club Crystal Palace. Carrick’s 10-month spell as head coach is under serious scrutiny and, were he to leave, United would appoint their eighth permanent manager since Sir Alex Ferguson retired 13 years ago. That would equal the number of managerial changes made in the previous 68 years, dating back to Sir Matt Busby’s appointment in 1945.
Mauricio Pochettino
United’s interest in Mauricio Pochettino dates back a decade. The 54-year-old Argentine has won Ligue 1 and the French Cup, while his Premier League record is 294 matches, 150 wins, a 51% win rate and 1.77 points per game.
Pochettino’s Tottenham side reached a Champions League final, a League Cup final and finished second and third in the Premier League, although they did not win a trophy. He later won the league with Paris St-Germain but had a more difficult spell at Chelsea, including a 2024 League Cup final defeat by Liverpool.
He led the USA to the last 16 of the World Cup on home soil and signed a contract running to the 2030 tournament. The deal reportedly includes a $10million (£7.44m) buyout clause and provisions allowing him to leave for certain high-profile jobs. Pochettino has said he still has unfinished business in the Premier League.
Julian Nagelsmann
Julian Nagelsmann, 39, became the youngest head coach in Bundesliga history at 28 when he guided Hoffenheim from relegation trouble to the Champions League. He then took RB Leipzig to the 2020 Champions League semi-finals before joining Bayern Munich, where he won the Bundesliga in his first season.
He left Bayern before completing a second campaign after reportedly falling out with key players. Nagelsmann took over Germany in 2023, with the team losing narrowly to eventual winners Spain in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals. He resigned in the summer after Germany were beaten on penalties by Paraguay in the World Cup last 32.
Only Hansi Flick, with an 88.9% win rate, has a better Champions League record among Bayern Munich managers than Nagelsmann’s 83.3%. Manchester United recruitment director Christopher Vivell worked with him at RB Leipzig.
Other contenders
Eddie Howe has won one League Cup and recorded 140 wins in 369 Premier League matches, a 37.9% win rate and 1.36 points per game. He took Bournemouth into the top flight for the first time and led Newcastle United to their first major domestic trophy since the 1955 FA Cup, as well as two top-five finishes and a return to the Champions League after 20 years. Howe, 48, left Newcastle in the summer after a 12th-placed finish, meaning compensation would reportedly be relatively small.
Antonio Conte has won five Serie A titles, one Premier League title and one FA Cup. His Premier League record is 83 wins in 132 games, a 62.9% win rate and 2.03 points per game. He left Napoli this summer, 12 months after winning only the fourth top-flight title in the club’s history. His previous English spells at Chelsea and Tottenham brought success but also reported clashes with players and boards. He called Tottenham’s players “selfish” when he left after 16 months in 2023. Chelsea won 30 of 38 league matches in his first season, 2016-17.
Unai Emery, 55, has won five Europa League titles, Ligue 1, two French Cups and two French League Cups. Since joining Aston Villa in October 2022, he has taken them into the European Cup/Champions League for the first time in 41 years and ended their 30-year wait for silverware by winning last season’s Europa League. He has a 50.5% Premier League win rate and 1.75 points per game, the best figures of any permanent Villa manager, but is expected to sign a new contract.
Carrick’s Premier League record is 14 wins from 29 matches, a 48.3% win rate and 1.76 points per game. After initially becoming interim manager in January, he recorded 12 wins and 39 points during the remainder of the 2025-26 season, more than any other Premier League manager. This campaign, however, United have won only three of 15 matches in all competitions. They have beaten Roma and drawn 4-4 with Aston Villa after comebacks, but remain in the relegation zone. Eighteenth is their lowest position after 10 games for 40 years, and it is only the second time they have gone eight Premier League matches without a win. Carrick won five Premier League titles and the Champions League as a Manchester United player.
