Man Utd considering Michael Carrick reunion if Ruben Amorim is sacked as Sir Jim Ratcliffe eyes familiar face to steady ship

Manchester United's defeat to Brentford on Saturday brought a fresh round of criticism for Amorim and more pressure on the Portuguese boss. After victory over Chelsea, the Red Devils had the chance to win consecutive Premier League games for the first time under Amorim but failed spectacularly as they were beaten 3-1 at the Gtech Community Stadium. Amorim insisted after the game he "wasn't concerned" about talk he could be sacked, but he will know his position is under scrutiny after overseeing 17 defeats from his 33 Premier League games in charge of the Red Devils.

Manchester United are keeping tabs on potential replacements for Amorim but are continuing to back the 40-year-old for the time being, according to The Sun. Carrick has emerged as a potential option to take over as caretaker manager after previously taking on a similar role after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked in 2021. Carrick oversaw two wins and a draw before stepping down as Ralf Rangnick was appointed interim boss. 

Carrick has been tipped as a good future option for United by former assistant Rene Meulensteen. He told football betting site BetVictor: "Michael Carrick might be the obvious option if Ruben Amorim is to go. Obviously Michael Carrick still knows quite a few players that were there when he was there. So he's still got some good inside information. He obviously knows the club. He knows what's expected from the club. Well, you always get that and there's always names being thrown around. Jose Mourinho's out of the job as well. So that will be thrown around and there's all other managers as well.  

"But the key is that you need to have a guy that obviously has got a clear idea but puts some kind of a structure in place that the players buy into and that you get a spark from the players. Because they're not bad players, there's plenty of good players there. I'm sure that if they would play in a system that suits them, they really play at the best. I think you could see a fantastic Manchester United. Maybe Michael could well be the guy. It's not magic. It's common sense more than anything, that's it and Carrick has got plenty of that."

The 44-year-old is currently out of work after being sacked from his first permanent managerial job at Middlesbrough in June. Carrick was appointed in 2022 and immediately took the team up the table and secured a play-off place, only to see his team beaten in the semi-finals. Middlesbrough narrowly missed out on a top six in the following two campaigns, leading to Carrick's dismissal ahead of the 2025-26 campaign. 

Yet Carrick retains close ties with the Red Devils following an  illustrious career with the club that brought Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League and Europa League titles. His son is in the captain of the Under-16 team, and plays alongside Kai Rooney, and Carrick has been spotted watching Jacey in action for the club alongside Wayne in the recent SuperCupNI youth tournament.

Carrick isn't the only name on Barcelona's list of targets if Amorim does move on. Gareth Southgate, Andoni Iraola and Oliver Glasner are also reportedly on Ratcliffe's radar as he ponders whether to keep faith with Amorim or make another managerial change. Yet axing Amorim will prove costly business for Manchester United. The Red Devils will reportedly have to shell out a whopping £12million ($16m) in compensation if his contract is terminated before November.

Amorim must now try and bounce back from yet another damaging defeat on Saturday when United take on Sunderland at Old Trafford. The Black Cats are back in the Premier League following promotion from the Championship last season and have enjoyed a fine start to life back in the top flight. Sunderland head into the fixture in fifth place in the table and may well prove tricky opposition for Amorim's strugglers.