Michael Carrick returns as Manchester United interim head coach

Manchester United appointed Michael Carrick as interim head coach until the end of the 2025/26 season, formalising a return to Old Trafford designed to steady a club in turmoil. The appointment, announced in a club statement on Jan. 13, follows late-night negotiations and Carrick’s arrival at the Carrington training ground to begin work.

Carrick, 44, inherits a squad under pressure. United sit seventh in the Premier League and are 17 points adrift of the leaders, while exits from both domestic cups, including a 2-1 FA Cup defeat at home to Brighton, have left fan patience stretched. The timing compounds the challenge: with only 40 games remaining in the season, the club faces an unusually compressed campaign and a fixture list that starts with a high-stakes Manchester derby at Old Trafford this coming Saturday, a match that will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.

The club said the appointment was agreed in principle and that it will assess long-term options in the months ahead. Carrick’s remit is explicitly temporary, but the make-up of his backroom team signals serious intent to stabilise both results and environment. Steve Holland will serve as his No. 2, Jonathan Woodgate joins as part of the coaching staff, and Travis Binnion will continue his work with United’s Under-21s. Jonny Evans, who joined the first-team backroom group during Darren Fletcher’s interim period, will remain. Fletcher will return to his Under-18s role. Jason Wilcox was reported to have arrived at Carrington as the announcement was made.

Carrick’s ties to the club are deep. A midfield linchpin for 12 years as a player, he made 464 appearances and collected a host of honours, including five Premier League titles, the FA Cup, two League Cups, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League and the FIFA Club World Cup. After retiring in 2018 he joined United’s coaching staff, serving as first-team coach under Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and briefly as caretaker manager in November 2021, going unbeaten in three matches with victories over Villarreal and Arsenal and a draw at Chelsea.

His managerial résumé outside Old Trafford is mixed. Appointed head coach at Middlesbrough in October 2022, Carrick initially improved a side that had been 21st when he arrived, but his tenure produced inconsistent results. That experience will be tested anew as he navigates squad morale, tactical coherence and the immediate demands of top-level rivalry.

Carrick framed the task in stark terms. "Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honour… my focus is now on helping the players to reach the standards that we expect at this incredible club, which we know that this group is more than capable of producing."

Beyond the immediate match results, the appointment signals a strategic choice by the club’s hierarchy: prioritise continuity, internal knowledge and short-term stability over a search for an external marquee manager in the middle of a fraught season. Financially and commercially the decision limits transfer activity this month and buys time for a more considered managerial search in the summer, while placing the onus on Carrick to arrest decline and restore credibility to the dressing room and the brand. For supporters, the selection of a club stalwart provides emotional resonance, but it will be judged strictly by results — starting with a derby that could define the tone of the remainder of the campaign.