Michael Carrick has been sacked as Manchester United head coach with Mauricio Pochettino lined up to replace him.
Carrick departs less than six months after signing a two-year contract having overseen the club's worst-ever start to a Premier League season with United in the relegation zone after picking up one win in 10 matches.United have an agreement in place with Pochettino to take over but he is likely to remain in charge of the USA for their Nations League against Haiti on Saturday and Wednesday before starting work.Sky
Sports News understands Pochettino has a £7m release clause in his newly-signed contract with the USA.
Talks with the United Soccer Federation are expected to gather pace in the coming days.Why have Man Utd had only two 'successful' managersTransfer Centre LIVE! | Man Utd news & transfers🔴Man Utd fixtures & scores | FREE Man Utd highlights▶️Carrick took training in Manchester on Wednesday as United reached a verbal agreement with Pochettino.
Meanwhile, club chiefs were at a Monaco summit with minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.That is where the decision to sack Carrick was ratified by Ratcliffe following the recommendation of chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox.Carrick's exit follows United's 4-4 draw against Aston Villa on Sunday, when they fell 2-0 down inside four minutes and then 4-2 down early in the second half before
mounting a last-gasp comeback to draw.
The rescue job followed a similar turnaround to beat Roma in the Champions League last Tuesday but was not enough to convince the United hierarchy to continue with the former midfielder in charge.Carrick was initially appointed as United boss in January 2026 on a contract until the end of the season, following Ruben Amorim's sacking earlier in that campaign.
He delivered a brilliant run of results, winning 12 of 17 matches to earn a third-place finish in the Premier League and a return to the Champions League.Carrick was nominated for Premier League Manager of the Season and, on May 22, signed a new contract running to 2028.
However, just three wins in 15 matches this term have cost him his job.United are now looking for an eighth permanent head coach since Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013 - with Pochettino understood to be ready to take the role.Former Tottenham, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain boss Pochettino has been considered for the United job on three previous occasions, but finally now looks set for the Old Trafford hot seat.
Neville: United need bigger solution than sacking CarrickSky Sports' Gary Neville to NBC: "Michael Carrick did that last season - so you can paper over the cracks and get a new manager bounce."When the new manager comes in, everybody's happy for a couple of months and all of a sudden, six months later, it happens again. You can keep changing the manager and thinking that's going to be the answer.
But this has been proven now over 12 years, that's not the answer."It's rinse and repeat. Ruben Amorim, Erik ten Hag, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Carrick, Jose Mourinho, Louis van Gaal, David Moyes, Ralf Rangnick - some of them are world-class managers who have had success.
There are a lot of promising young managers there, ex-players who know the club as well."None of it has worked because if you've got a poor performance department, poor recruitment department, you've not got leadership that is strong right through the spine of the football club you will fail.
Every organisation in the world will fail if you've not got aligned leadership from top to bottom - your board and your ownership right the way through to the person who is stood on the pitch trying to play football."There are real issues within that football club.
You've got people doing those jobs who have never done those jobs before in senior positions."Carrick's turbulent end to United reignPressure ramped up on Carrick after a 4-1 thumping by Como in the Champions League, a result which left captain Fernandes criticising the club's coaching staff and Carrick questioning the commitment of his squad.Fernandes was then dropped for a 3-0 loss at home to Bournemouth.
Carrick was cheered by the Stretford End as he left the pitch at full-time, while his players were booed off by supporters.Director of football Jason Wilcox and chief executive Omar Berrada met at the club's training ground to discuss his future but Carrick continued. A 2-0 defeat at Chelsea featured a red card for Lisandro Martinez, who had criticised the club's hierarchy,
