Michael Carrick has taken the lead in the race to become Manchester United’s interim manager, and the club hope to have him in place well before their upcoming game against Arsenal.
Dan Roan reports for BBC Sport that despite previous reports that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was the favourite to take over as Manchester United’s interim manager, Michael Carrick is now leading the race.
Darren Fletcher is the current interim manager, taking over following Ruben Amorim’s dismissal. But United are keen to appoint someone else until the end of the season.
Roan adds that a final decision is still yet to be reached, but talks have progressed with 44-year-old Carrick and the club hope to complete the appointment before training on Wednesday.
Hiring Carrick would hand the former England international his second temporary spell in charge of United, following his three-game run in 2021.
The timing of Carrick’s appointment will be of interest to Arsenal, as the Gunners have a game coming up against United on January 25th.
More immediately, United are set to play against Arsenal’s primary title rivals Manchester City on January 17th.
The hope is that the process will be complete in time for the new manager to coach both matches, giving the two sides a level-playing field.
On a related note, the new manager will have Amad Diallo and Bryan Mbeumo back available for selection against both City and Arsenal after the two were eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations with the Ivory Coast and Cameroon respectively.
Noussair Mazraoui remains at the tournament with hosts Morocco, and he’ll definitely miss the Manchester derby. But he should be back with his club team in time for the Arsenal match the following week.