Manchester United's Michael Carrick Expected to Be Fired as Manager, New Rumors Link Pochettino

Change is coming to Manchester United.

According to David Ornstein, Adam Crafton and Laurie Whitwell of The Athletic, the club is "expected to relieve" manager Michael Carrick of his duties.

Per that report, "The club continue to insist that no decision has been reached but multiple sources, speaking to The Athletic on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, indicate work has been undertaken on potential replacements and the anticipation is a change will be made before the trip to Anfield to face Liverpool in 13 days' time."

USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino is reportedly considered a candidate, although Manchester United would have to trigger his $10 million buyout clause, per Paul Tenorio, Tom Bogert and Henry Bushnell of The Athletic.

Eddie Howe and Julian Nagelsmann also reportedly "have admirers at the club," per Ornstein, Crafton and Whitwell.

Carrick, 45, replaced Ruben Amorim in January on an interim basis and was appointed to the full-time gig in May after leading United to 11 wins across 16 matches, with the club finishing third on the Premier League table and earning a berth in the Champions League.

But the 2026-27 campaign has been an abject disaster. Manchester United currently sit 18th on the table with just eight points through 10 matches, a stunning run of mediocrity for the proud club.

Manchester United have had a revolving door of managers since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, with 11 different men holding the gig as caretakers or on a full-time basis. The Red Devils haven't won a Premier League title in that time, which has also coincided with the unpopular ownership of the Glazer family (Jim Ratcliffe leading football operations was supposed to help in that regard, though the returns to this point haven't been promising).

The constant turnover at manager, paired with inconsistent approaches to roster-building and a general sense of dysfunction within the club have led to a sustained period of United finding themselves trailing far behind Premier League powers like Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City (115 charges notwithstanding) over the past two decades.

That's the context the next manager will have to shoulder as he hopes to right the ship.