Michael Carrick's Support Network: Former Teammates Ready to Help
Michael Carrick knows that if he ever needs help at Manchester United, the old guard will pick up the phone.
Across continents and career paths, former team-mates are queuing up – at least in principle – to stand beside him. Some on the training pitch. Others in the boardroom. All of them, it seems, still drawn to Old Trafford and to the quiet midfielder who once stitched United’s play together.
Silvestre eyes the boardroom, not the dugout
Mikael Silvestre is the latest to nail his colours to Carrick’s mast. The former France defender, who spent nine seasons at United and shared a dressing room with Carrick in his final two, has long since stepped away from the day‑to‑day grind of coaching. He retired in 2014, earned his badges, and then deliberately walked a different path.
Silvestre chose the executive route. First at Rennes, the club where he began his professional career, as director of football. More recently at CFR Cluj in Romania, in the same role. That is where he sees his value now – and where he would be prepared to return to United.
“I’d prefer the Director of Football role,” he explained to Grosvenor Sport, referencing the job he held at Rennes after completing a Masters in sports management. Coaching, he made clear, is “not for me”.
There is, of course, a complication. United already have a director of football. Jason Wilcox was promoted into the position earlier this year, stepping up in the reshaped hierarchy following Dan Ashworth’s departure. It leaves no obvious vacancy for Silvestre, however willing he may be.
He recognises that reality when asked whether a wave of ex-players could flood back to work under Carrick.
“Would these former players come back to Manchester United to work under Michael Carrick? I don’t know because I believe his coaching team is already full,” he said. “It’s a department that has everyone it needs so I don’t see anybody coming in from the outside to offer something extra.”
That doesn’t stop him watching. Or caring. Silvestre still circles United fixtures on his calendar. He plans to be at Carrington in September to watch training, to observe, to reconnect. “Like all former players I look out for all my clubs,” he added, “although I look out for United more specifically than others. I played for them for nine years, after all.”
Nine years leaves a mark. So does the pull of Old Trafford.
Rooney: “Of course I would”
Silvestre is not alone. Wayne Rooney, the club’s all-time leading scorer, is currently out of management after a bruising spell at Plymouth Argyle in 2024. He has slipped into punditry for now, a high-profile voice rather than a dugout presence.
Yet the idea of working with Carrick at United still cuts through everything else.
Speaking in January, Rooney didn’t hesitate when the prospect was put to him. “Of course I would. It’s a no-brainer,” he said. The caveat followed quickly – he was not, as he put it, “begging a job” – but the message was unmistakable. If United called and the role was right, he would go.
“Just so everyone knows, if I was asked to go in of course I would,” he added. For Rooney, the key remains the man in the hot seat. “Appointing the manager is the most important thing.”
The implication is clear. Get the manager right – get Carrick right – and the old band will listen when the phone rings.
Valencia would “go running”
On another continent, Antonio Valencia feels the same tug. The former United captain shared nine years in the dressing room with Carrick, a relentless presence on the right flank and a quiet leader off it.
Now 40, Valencia works in broadcasting, covering the World Cup for Telemundo Deportes. His life has moved on, yet the mention of United still brings an instant response.
“Yes, I would go back,” he told Hajper. “Manchester United is a club that gave me so much. My family was very happy there. I would work for Manchester United in any role, out of passion.”
Any role. Any capacity. That is the strength of the bond. “It is a club I love a lot,” he said. From a distance, he likes what he sees. “I think everything they are doing is going well. But if they called me, I would go running.”
Carrick at the centre of a loyal circle
For now, Carrick’s staff is settled and the structure above him defined. There is no formal place for Silvestre in the boardroom, no obvious vacancy for Rooney or Valencia on the training ground.
Yet the picture that emerges is powerful. Across three continents and three very different post-playing careers, the same message repeats: if Carrick and United need them, they will come.
That kind of loyalty cannot be written into contracts or job descriptions. It sits in the background, waiting. And if United’s new era under Carrick ever demands familiar voices and trusted hands, he already knows exactly where to turn.
