Michael Carrick was asked about a handful of Man Utd players who are out of contract at the end of the season.
Carrick provided a contract update.(Image: 2026 Manchester United FC)
View Image
Michael Carrick confirmed Manchester United are closer to reaching an agreement over a new contract for Kobbie Mainoo, but he suggested the futures of Jadon Sancho, Tyrell Malacia and Tom Heaton still need to be addressed.
United announced Harry Maguire's new contract during the international break. Mainoo will be the next to sign a new deal, and he is set to receive a pay increase in recognition of his role in the squad.
Mainoo last signed a contract in 2023, meaning he's been one of the lowest earners in the senior dressing room. The youngster considered his future away from his boyhood club with Ruben Amorim in charge, but Carrick has reinstated him to the starting XI since his interim appointment.
HEREHEREHEREHERE.
Sacho and Malacia are set to be released when their contracts expire, while Heaton could sign another one-year extension, but Carrick was coy when he was asked about the trio's situations ahead of the summer.
Carrick said: "I think coming to the summer, there's contracts, and there's all sorts of things that need to be sorted out, but at this stage, to that stage, it's not been sorted out just yet.
"I think we'll cross that bridge a little bit further down the line, but it's great to have Harry [Maguire] sorted and clarity in that situation. Casemiro was a little bit before me really, so I wasn't particularly involved in that, but I think as time goes, everything ends up getting sorted out. We're just not at that stage where anything else is sorted just yet."
When asked if the club were confident of Mainoo signing a new deal, he said: "We'd like to think so, and it's getting closer, so we're positive with that. We're calm with it, but we're positive with it, and time will tell how it goes. But at the moment, we are in a good place."
Carrick also revealed the extent of his influence over contract decisions. "Certainly in the role I'm in, they are the kind of decisions you need to take care of. And I said it as soon as I came here. I'm part of that and whatever that looks like moving forward, I'm part of that.
"And trying to improve things and make things better all the time. So yeah, certainly there's conversations in different directions and different things that I'm definitely part of. And I think it should be that way anyway, because things need done, you know. So I'm here to take care of that."
United must secure Champions League football to keep their best players and attract new signings. "I think Champions League just brings so many positive things. It's where we want to be, no getting away from that, and that has ramifications for so many different things over that," Carrick said.
"Players staying, if it is that, if it's players coming in, it's financially all sorts of different things. It's what we want to be and we need to try and get used to being in there more often."
When asked whether transfer plans would be impacted by securing Champions League football or not, he said: "Yeah, listen, there's obviously work that's going into planning for the summer. There has to be.
"There's no two ways around that, but in terms of two plans, I'm not going to delve into the details too much. I think it's pretty obvious to everyone to understand if you finish certain places in the league financially, it makes a lot of difference if you don't.
"I think that's pretty obvious. But there's certainly work going on in terms of what can be done in trying to move forward in improving the squad and making the best of what we've got."