How close Carrick came to being appointed manager at PL rivals instead of at United now revealed – report

Manchester United were forced to cut short their Ruben Amorim experiment, both due to on-field performances and off-field issues. The Red Devils won a mere 15 Premier League games in 14 months under the Portuguese tactician, while his spat with director of football Jason Wilcox over the style of play and transfers meant INEOS had no choice but to pull the plug. The co-owners decided not to appoint a permanent successor, choosing to install a caretaker head coach instead, with the race being between Darren Fletcher, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and Michael Carrick. United’s FA Cup loss to Brighton ended Fletcher‘s chances, and after plenty of deliberation, the legendary English midfielder was brought in. Michael Carrick has steadied the ship at United And the 44-year-old started with a bang, orchestrating a brutal takedown of noisy neighbours Manchester City in the recent Manchester derby. Interestingly, Talksport have now revealed that the former Middlesbrough coach was sounded out by Tottenham Hotspur before United came calling. With Thomas Frank struggling at the North London outfit, Spurs were considering parting ways and had spoken with their former player over the possible managerial position. “Michael Carrick would have been a contender to take charge of Tottenham on an interim basis had he not already taken over at Manchester United. Michael Carrick was a contender for the Spurs job “Thomas Frank remains in serious danger of losing his job despite being given a stay of execution for Tuesday night’s crunch Champions League clash at home to Borussia Dortmund. “If, as expected, the Spurs hierarchy decide Frank’s position has become untenable, they are likely to put a caretaker in charge for the rest of the season when the likes of Mauricio Pochettino become available. “It is thought Carrick, who played 75 games for Spurs, was sounded out about the possibility of a return to north London before landing the United job.” There was also interest from the Championship and other Premier League clubs in Michael Carrick, but it was United whose allure proved too hard to turn down. Hopefully, he can continue to inspire the 20-time English league champions,with his next assignment in North London, against Spurs’ fiercest rivals, Arsenal. Feature image Carl Recine via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Ayantan Chowdhury After failing to become a professional footballer, Ayantan switched to the next best thing: writing about the greatest football club in the world. He has extensive sports journalism experience, having worked for over 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25