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Michael Carrick arriving at the Trafford Training Centre, Carrington. (Danny Lawson/PA Wire)
Michael Carrick arriving at the Trafford Training Centre, Carrington. (Danny Lawson/PA Wire)
Online Editors
Today at 10:49
Michael Carrick has been appointed as interim head coach until the end of the season at Manchester United, with the ex-England international pictured arriving at Carrington training centre this morning.
Twenty years after Carrick joined the club as a player, the deal, which includes the former midfielder’s proposed staff, has been finalised and a verbal agreement reached.
Carrick’s first game in charge will be against rivals Manchester City on Saturday at Old Trafford.
The Athletic reported on Monday that Carrick had moved into pole position for the role after he and former team-mate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had held face-to-face talks with club executives.
The process of appointing an interim coach has been led by director of football Jason Wilcox and chief executive Omar Berrada.
Sign-off was required by co-owner Jim Ratcliffe and the Glazer family, and attentions will turn to bringing in a permanent successor to Ruben Amorim, who was sacked on January 5, now that the caretaker role has been finalised.
TalkSPORT reported that Alex Ferguson backed Carrick for the role.
Carrick made 464 appearances for United as a player, winning five Premier League titles and the Champions League in 2008.
In his first interim spell in charge, he won two games and drew the other.
Since he left United, he has been the head coach of Middlesbrough, leading the Teesside outfit to the Championship play-offs in his first term.
He was sacked by Boro last season, and has not worked since.
Since Amorim’s departure, Carrick’s former team-mate Darren Fletcher has stepped in as a caretaker, moving up from his role as the head coach of United’s under-18 side.
The Scot led the Red Devils to a 2-2 draw with Burnley in his opening game, before they were beaten 2-1 by Brighton and Hove Albion in the FA Cup on Sunday.
More to follow