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.
It is understood that Carrick will bring in former England assistant manager Steve Holland, with Jonathan Woodgate, Jonny Evans and Travis Binnion also forming his backroom staff.
Former United midfielder Darren Fletcher, who has taken charge of the last two games, was offered a role in Carrick’s set-up, but has opted to return to his role as Under-18s boss.
Official confirmation of the appointment is set to come later on Tuesday.
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 teammate 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