Manchester United’s directors will meet in Monaco on Wednesday to discuss Michael Carrick’s future, with the head coach’s 10-month tenure under major scrutiny after the club’s worst start to a top-flight season since 1986-87.
United have won once in their first 10 Premier League matches and sit 18th, one point above bottom club Crystal Palace. If the 45-year-old former player departs, it would mean an eighth permanent boss since Sir Alex Ferguson retired 13 years ago. That would be as many managerial changes as the club has made across the previous 68 years, dating back to Sir Matt Busby’s appointment in 1945.
The decision will require United’s hierarchy to weigh Carrick’s strong end to last season against the collapse of this campaign. If the board chooses to make a change, several experienced coaches are likely to feature in the discussion.
Mauricio Pochettino
Pochettino, 54, has won one Ligue 1 title and one French Cup as a manager. His Premier League record stands at 294 matches and 150 wins, a 51% win rate and 1.77 points per game. At Tottenham, he averaged 1.89 points per game, the best ratio of any Spurs manager to have taken charge of 25 or more Premier League games.
United’s long-standing interest in the Argentine dates back a decade. At Spurs, he molded their best team in a generation but ultimately came up short of winning a trophy, losing both the Champions League and League Cup finals and posting second- and third-place finishes. Silverware did come at Paris St-Germain with a league title, but a spell at Chelsea proved tougher, including a League Cup final defeat by Liverpool in 2024.
Having led the USA to the last 16 of the World Cup on home soil, he signed a new contract taking him to the 2030 tournament. Pochettino has an exciting group of young players to work with for the national team, led by Manchester City-bound 17-year-old Cavan Sullivan, but he has always made it clear he has unfinished business in the Premier League. A reported buyout clause in his contract is worth $10 million (£7.44m), and it is understood to contain clauses that would allow him to leave for specific high-profile jobs.
Julian Nagelsmann
Nagelsmann, 39, has won one Bundesliga title and has no Premier League record. Only Hansi Flick (88.9%) has a better Champions League win percentage among Bayern Munich managers than Nagelsmann’s 83.3%.
He first impressed at Hoffenheim, becoming the youngest head coach in Bundesliga history at 28 and leading the club from relegation struggles to the Champions League. He then took RB Leipzig to a Champions League semi-final in 2020, and Bayern Munich came calling. Despite winning the Bundesliga in his first season, he reportedly fell out with key players and did not survive a full second season.
In 2023, Nagelsmann took charge of a Germany side in transition. They were narrowly beaten in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 by eventual winners Spain, but he stepped down in the summer after Germany were humbled by Paraguay in the World Cup last 32. Still only 39, his reputation may have taken a hit, but he is still regarded as one of Europe’s best coaches. United’s director of recruitment, Christopher Vivell, knows him well from their time together at RB Leipzig.
Eddie Howe
Howe, 48, has won one League Cup. His Premier League record is 369 matches and 140 wins, a 37.9% win rate and 1.36 points per game. He is one of only three managers with five or more wins against Mikel Arteta in all competitions, along with Pep Guardiola (11) and Jurgen Klopp (six).
His body of work in English football needs little introduction. He led Bournemouth to the top flight for the first time in their history, then secured his place in Newcastle folklore with their first major domestic trophy since the 1955 FA Cup. The League Cup final win over Liverpool was one of the greatest days in Newcastle’s history, and he also secured two top-five finishes that took the club back into the Champions League for the first time in 20 years.
Howe left Newcastle in the summer after an underwhelming 12th-placed finish last term. Newcastle would only be due a relatively small amount of compensation should he be tempted by the Old Trafford job.
Antonio Conte
Conte, 57, has won five Serie A titles, one Premier League title and one FA Cup. His Premier League record is 132 matches and 83 wins, a 62.9% win rate and 2.03 points per game. Chelsea won 30 of their 38 Premier League matches as they claimed the title in his first season in charge in 2016-17.
A serial winner, Conte’s credentials are not in doubt. He left Napoli of his own accord this summer, just 12 months after delivering only the fourth top-flight title in their history. That added to Serie A triumphs at Juventus (three) and Inter Milan, plus spells at Chelsea and Tottenham.
Conte would appear to be a no-brainer of a choice to take over at United, but his fiery nature and history of falling out with clubs could count against him. His last stint in English football ended under a cloud of controversy when he left Tottenham in 2023 after criticism of the players and the club’s culture. While he had success at Chelsea, he also reportedly clashed with both players and the board.
Unai Emery
Emery, 55, has won five Europa League titles, one Ligue 1 title, two French Cups and two French League Cups. His Premier League record is 200 matches and 101 wins, a 50.5% win rate and 1.75 points per game. He has the best Premier League win percentage (51%) and points-per-game ratio (1.75) of any permanent Aston Villa boss.
Vastly experienced, Emery’s stock is at an all-time high because of the job he has done since taking over at Villa in October 2022. He took the club into the European Cup/Champions League for the first time in 41 years, then ended their 30-year wait for silverware with success in last season’s Europa League.
Despite losing the spine of his team over the summer, Emery’s new-look side are finding their feet again. The chances of him leaving for United look even slimmer after recent news that he is expected to sign a new contract.
Michael Carrick
Carrick has no major trophies as a manager. His Premier League record stands at 29 matches and 14 wins, a 48.3% win rate and 1.76 points per game. After his initial appointment as United’s interim boss in January, he had the most wins (12) and points (39) of any Premier League manager during the rest of the 2025-26 season.
Still clinging to the job at Old Trafford, Carrick could yet persuade the hierarchy to keep faith. After such a brilliant start and end to last season following his arrival in January, the wheels have come off spectacularly this term with only three wins from 15 matches in all competitions. His team have at least shown fight with comebacks in recent games to beat Roma and salvage a point in a 4-4 draw with Aston Villa, but the overall stats are damning and the outlook does not look good for the 45-year-old, who won five Premier League titles and the Champions League as a United player. The club are in the relegation zone, and their position is their lowest after 10 games of a season for 40 years. It is also only the second time they have gone eight Premier League games without a victory.