Manchester United chiefs are in the process of hiring a permanent head coach for the summer and Luis Enrique is one of the only names that could still compete with Michael Carrick.
With seven wins in his first nine games, Michael Carrick has emerged as the favourite for the Manchester United job.
Gary Neville insisted United should not hire Carrick, but instead go and get the best manager available. But many of the top candidates, including Carlo Ancelotti and Thomas Tuchel, are off the market.
Luis Enrique is a perfect fit for United, but it will come down to whether or not the Spaniard wants to leave his role at Paris Saint-Germain. If Enrique did make the move to Manchester, the next question would be whether or not he kept Carrick on the books as an assistant.
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Would Luis Enrique be open to keeping Michael Carrick at Man Utd?
When Ruben Amorim was appointed, he chose not to keep Ruud van Nistelrooy on his coaching staff despite his impressive spell as caretaker manager.
If United could poach Enrique, he would face a similar situation with Carrick. Carrick was previously the assistant of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford, but he has since been pursuing managerial jobs of his own.
To judge whether or not Enrique would be open to keeping Carrick as an assistant, it’s worth a look at who has previously been his right-hand man on the bench.
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Since Enrique’s first managerial job at Roma, his assistant manager was Robert Moreno, and the pair created a brilliant partnership that they continued at Celta Vigo, Barcelona and the Spanish national team.
After the tragic death of Enrique’s daughter, Moreno took charge of Spain until his compatriot returned to the bench.
Enrique is now at PSG, but for the first time in his career he is not joined by Moreno. Instead, Enrique is assisted by Rafel Pol, who was previously a fitness coach under Enrique at Roma, Celta Vigo, Barcelona and Spain.
According to Tribuna, Pol is not only Enrique’s assistant but also one of his closest friends having worked alongside him for 15 years.
The report also adds that “Pol could take charge of PSG’s technical staff if Enrique were to leave”. If that was the case, it would leave the door open for Carrick.
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Luis Enrique is the only candidate above Michael Carrick
Ineos face a huge decision in the summer over the next head coach, and momentum is firmly in Carrick’s favour because of his interim spell.
Carrick hinted at talks with Ineos over the role after beating Aston Villa on the weekend, and United fans and players have shown plenty of support for him staying permanently.
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But there is no arguing that Enrique is a higher pedigree of coach and his experience on the European stage is undeniably brilliant. If United could tempt the Spaniard to move to Old Trafford, he is the only candidate who would be acceptable over Carrick.
If Carrick stayed on as Enrique’s assistant, it would be the dream scenario for United. However, it is also unclear whether Carrick would be willing to do that instead of pursuing another managerial job of his own.
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