'100 per cent!' - Wayne Rooney urges Man Utd to make Michael Carrick permanent manager after Red Devils accelerate towards top-four finish

When Carrick succeeded Amorim in mid-January, United were sixth in the Premier League. The win over Villa cemented their hold on third place in the Premier League, opening up a three-point gap with fourth-placed Aston Villa and a six-point advantage over Chelsea in sixth position, the last place outside the Champions League positions in all probability. 

Carrick also has the best record of any Premier League manager since taking charge. Across his two stints as United boss, he has won nine games, drawn two and lost just once, leaving him with a winning percentage of 75%. Amorim, by contrast, left with a rate of 38% in all competitions.

Rooney told BBC Radio Five Live: "One hundred per cent  he should [get the job]. I have said this. I knew this was going to happen with Michael Carrick. I know him very well. I know his character, his personality. It needed a calm head, but someone who knows the place and the players needed some love, and he has given them that. We have seen the players play with more quality, more together as a team, and they look like a very strong team. For me, why would you change? He has got the best winning percentage of any Manchester United manager after that many games. For me, he has to get the job."

Rooney and Carrick played together for United between 2006 and 2017, winning five Premier League titles and one Champions League crown among a litany of trophies. His former team-mate Roy Keane declared in January that Carrick should not be given the job even if he won every game from now until the end of the season while Gary Neville has also stated at various points that the Red Devils should hire an elite level manager. 

Owen Hargreaves, who won the 2008 Champions League alongside Rooney, has also said Carrick should be given the job on a permanent basis. Dion Dublin, who briefly played for United in the 1990s, said that United would be taking a risk by appointing anyone else given how well Carrick has done so far.

He said: "What is the point of going to the market and trying to find someone? He has gone in and put the arm around the players. The calm nature of Michael Carrick has been perfect for this football club."

Carrick is the bookmaker's favourite to be United manager at the start of next season, followed by Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner, who is out of contract in June along with Bournemouth coach Andoni Iraola. Thomas Tuchel is out of the running after renewing his contract with England. 

Even though Carrick has only had one stint as a first-team coach before succeeding Amorim - a mixed spell at Middlesbrough which led to him being sacked after a fourth season without winning promotion - Rooney believes he has shown he can cope with managing at the highest level. He added: "The club has needed rebuilding a little bit in terms of getting back to the top and back to winning major trophies. Michael has been at the club for a long time, and he knows what that takes. He is a good manager, and he is showing that.

"He is showing that there is no problem managing at this level. The players have responded to him, the fans have responded to him. Why would you change it? Why would you try to find someone who is a risk like Roberto de Zerbi? For me, he has to get it."