Manchester United's Managerial Situation: Carrick vs. Conte
Manchester United have sounded out Antonio Conte as a leading candidate to replace Michael Carrick – but, for now, the message from INEOS is clear: the manager stays.
Carrick, confirmed as permanent United boss at the end of last season after steering the club back into the Champions League for 2026/27, has endured a stuttering start to the new campaign. Four points from four Premier League games is a thin return for a squad rebuilt under new ownership and new expectations.
The tension is obvious. So are the rumours.
Conte at the top of the list
In Italy, the conversation has already moved on to the next man. The September 15 print edition of Corriere della Sera reports that United’s co-owners, INEOS, are weighing up the possibility of dismissing Carrick and turning to Conte, the former Chelsea, Juventus, Inter and Napoli boss.
Conte is currently out of work after leaving Napoli at the end of last season. At 57, with 10 major trophies behind him, he has the kind of résumé that always drags his name into the frame when a superclub starts to wobble.
He has dominated Serie A with three different clubs: Juventus’ title hat-trick in 2012, 2013 and 2014; Inter’s Scudetto in 2021; Napoli’s championship in 2025. In England, he stormed to the Premier League title with Chelsea in 2016/17, imposing his trademark intensity and tactical discipline on a squad that had lost its way.
According to Corriere della Sera, relayed by SportWitness and CalcioMercato, Conte sits at the very top of United’s shortlist if the club decide to move on from Carrick. For Conte, the suggestion is that he is waiting for the “right project” to tempt him back into club management. A faltering Manchester United, with Champions League football already secured and a restless fanbase demanding a reset, certainly fits that description on paper.
The links make sense. The timing, less so.
INEOS back Carrick – for now
While the Italian media lean into the Conte narrative, the line from inside United is very different. Fabrizio Romano, speaking on his YouTube channel, was emphatic about the current stance of the club’s co-owners.
“Man Utd absolutely remain convinced that the future will be bright under Michael Carrick,” he said, stressing that INEOS retain “total faith and confidence” in the Englishman despite the slow league start.
Romano also shed light on United’s quieter-than-expected summer. The club, he explained, accepted that they were one player short – a left-back – but refused to sign for the sake of optics. They explored options, but when the right profile didn’t materialise, they walked away rather than add a body they didn’t fully believe in.
That decision has left Carrick exposed in certain areas of the pitch. It has not, at this stage, left him exposed in the boardroom.
United’s disappointing four-point haul from their first four league fixtures has not triggered panic. Inside the club, Romano insists, there is a shared conviction that results will turn, particularly once the squad settles after the international break.
Carrick, for his part, has not wavered. The optimism he projects in public – his repeated insistence that this team will “do very well” over the coming weeks and months – is, according to Romano, exactly what he is telling his employers behind closed doors.
The manager believes in the group. The ownership, for now, believes in the manager.
Conte, though, is out there. Available. Decorated. Waiting.
If United’s form fails to match their ambition over the next stretch of the season, how long can that equation hold?
