REUTERS/Phil Noble
Speaking after his £116m move to Manchester City, long-standing Manchester United target Elliot Anderson was quick to laud the Etihad side as the "Kings of Manchester".
Enzo Maresca's men subsequently followed that up with a controversial win in the derby at Old Trafford, although that feels a moot point now amid this week's events.
The Red Devils appear set to have the last laugh, amid talk of stripped titles and potential sporting sanctions for their rivals, even as City profess their innocence, with more than a decade of Premier League action having been thrown into doubt.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola during training-1
That's an issue for another day, or many days to come, yet for now, the focus is on Michael Carrick and what he can do to spark this United side into life again. He's already shown what he can do with this group of players.
The biggest winners of Carrick's appointment at Man Utd
Heading into the international break, Manchester United had found themselves ten points behind City at the Premier League summit, having surely seen any slim title hopes already extinguished.
REUTERS/Phil Noble
That's a frustrating decline considering the Red Devils had embarked on a run of almost title-winning form during Carrick's interim stint, a run that began with that January win over the Citizens.
Right from the off, the Englishman appeared to get it right and sort out the chaos that Ruben Amorim had left behind, the shift to a 4-2-3-1 formation paying instant dividends in that derby clash.
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Bruno Fernandes, of course, ranks highly among the biggest beneficiaries of the change in the dugout, the Portuguese genius returning to his favoured number ten role, having ended the year with a record-breaking tally of league assists.
Injury has been an issue of late, but it's hard to look past Benjamin Sesko too in terms of the success stories under Carrick's watch, the Slovenian already netting nine times since the 45-year-old returned to Old Trafford.
||
|Top Scorers under Carrick - 25/26|
|Player|Games|Goals|
|---|
|Benjamin Sesko|13|7|
|Matheus Cunha|15|6|
|Bryan Mbeumo|17|5|
|Casemiro|15|5|
|Bruno Fernandes|17|4|
|Patrick Dorgu|6|3|
|Luke Shaw|17|1|
|Kobbie Mainoo|16|1|
In the second half of last season, Sesko led the way with seven goals after Carrick's arrival, placing him ahead of the likes of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Casemiro, the latter also shining in his final stretch in a United shirt.
The £70m Brazilian ultimately departed for free this summer, yet it's a man who cost the club nothing who now looks like Carrick's biggest winner so far.
How Man Utd struck gold on their "Man City player"
The sight of Anderson choosing City over United felt like a familiar one of recent times, a sign of the changing power dynamic in Manchester following the dominance of Pep Guardiola's time at the helm.
REUTERS/Scott Heppell
Comparisons to their local rivals have been a stick to beat the Red Devils with for so long now, City emerging as British football's dominant force while United's lengthy title drought continues.
Perhaps sunnier days lie ahead, not least after this week's bombshell news, with the Old Trafford side only recently poaching 16-year-old starlet, David Eze, from the Etihad youth ranks.
Equally too, while Maresca and co have forked out an eye-watering fee for Anderson, Carrick has a standout figure of his own to build around, with Kobbie Mainoo a shining midfield star in his own right.
In an era where United's midfield has so often been constructed around physicality over technical quality - looking at you, McFred - Mainoo really is an exception to the rule, such a graceful, gifted footballer at his best.
REUTERS/Jon Super
It was his composure and class in possession that even led Gary Neville to suggest that it is almost "like looking at a Manchester City player", the 21-year-old the type of figure who would seemingly have excelled in a Guardiola team.
"The biggest compliment I can pay him, and it hurts to say this, I hope people can take this in the right spirit… he looked like a Manchester City player. Honestly, I was watching him and thinking, ‘that’s a player that Pep Guardiola will be looking at and thinking, ‘I want him in my midfield, that’s what my midfield players do’.
Neville was speaking way back in November 2023, following Mainoo's first Premier League start in November 2023, and while it has at times been a bumpy ride since for the youngster, he is now front and centre of Carrick's side in 2026.
Cast aside by Amorim, and then Thomas Tuchel over the summer, the Stockport-born sensation has come alive under his compatriot, arguably eclipsing Bruno Fernandes as United's key man in recent weeks.
It's perhaps no coincidence that the Red Devils wilted in his absence away at Hull City and at home to Brighton and Hove Albion, the number 37 only entering the fray as a late substitute on both occasions.
Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith
Even in the derby defeat, it was Mainoo who tried to drag the hosts back into the game after the break, having also put in a near-faultless performance against Sabah in the Champions League earlier that week.
It's no surprise that CIES Football Observatory now marks him out to be the club's most valuable player at €82m (£70m), almost the anti-Casemiro, you could say, in terms of that rise, rather than fall, in value.
Perhaps he would have shone too elsewhere in Manchester, but those of a United persuasion will just be thankful that he's wearing red rather than blue.
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