RUMOR
Michael Carrick’s time in the Old Trafford dugout looks to be running out. Sky Sports News, as relayed by Sports Illustrated, reports an expectation that he will be relieved of his duties, with Eddie Howe and Julian Nagelsmann the two frontrunners to replace him. As of 26 October 2026, Manchester United have announced no decision.
What we know
Sky Sports describes this as United’s worst-ever start to a Premier League season. ESPN reports that six points from six league games, after the 1-1 home draw with Tottenham on 10 October, was the club’s lowest tally at that stage since 1986.
Then the slide got steeper. OneFootball and Yahoo list what followed: a 1-1 draw at Leeds, a 2-0 Champions League defeat at Atlético Madrid, a 4-1 hammering at Como and a 3-0 home loss to Bournemouth on 25 October. That makes eight games without a win in all competitions, and United sit 21st in the Champions League league phase. Sky Sports adds that captain Bruno Fernandes criticised the tactical plan after Como.
This is a sharp turn from spring. ESPN and Al Jazeera report Carrick was named head coach until the end of 2025-26 on 13 January 2026, after Ruben Amorim was sacked following 14 months in charge. The club confirmed in May that Carrick would continue on a new contract to 2028, after he led United to third and Champions League qualification, as Al Jazeera and AFP also reported.
No refereeing decision is involved here, so there is no Law to cite. This one is all boardroom.
What is rumored
The headline claim comes from Sky Sports News via Sports Illustrated: Carrick is expected to go, and talks on a replacement have been “accelerated”. BBC Sport and Yahoo are also reported to name Howe and Nagelsmann as leading candidates, though that rests on secondary coverage rather than the original articles.
Sky Sports also reports, in a piece summarised by The Week (India), that Howe was recommended by former sporting director Dan Ashworth and is favoured by director of football Jason Wilcox. The same report links Nagelsmann to head of recruitment Christopher Vivell through their time at RB Leipzig. These are internal preferences, not decisions. Howe resigned at Newcastle in July after nearly five years (Livescore/FootballTransfers), and Nagelsmann left the Germany job after the 2026 World Cup (Yahoo Sports).
The Sun’s United correspondent Samuel Luckhurst claims, in a tabloid report relayed secondhand by Brit Brief and Football365, that United have already contacted both men. The same report says Berrada and Wilcox were seen at Carrington on Monday for emergency talks, and that compensation with Carrick’s representatives is not agreed.
Football365, citing unnamed reports, links Antonio Conte, Unai Emery and Fabian Hurzeler. It says Hurzeler has already said no and Emery would be hard to prise from Aston Villa. Sportskeeda notes Conte has denied advanced talks with any club. Unnamed pre-match reports cited by Sportskeeda had the board judging results up to the November international break, but later reports point to a faster timeline.
What we don’t know yet
Whether Carrick will actually be sacked, and when. No club statement was found as of 26 October, and Sportskeeda reports United have said nothing publicly. Carrick told Sky Sports he did not know what comes next.
Two reports have run ahead of the facts. Yahoo Sports’ “sack decision looms” article says Carrick “has now been sacked”, yet its own headline and intro say he is on the brink. Treat that line as an error. The Evening Standard’s headline “Man Utd make Carrick sack decision” does not mean a decision has been announced; nothing official exists.
We also don’t know who United would pick, or whether compensation is close. On 14 October, The Athletic’s David Ornstein wrote that INEOS still backed Carrick but needed better results, as relayed by TEAMtalk and Football365. That came before Leeds, Como and Bournemouth.
What it means
The numbers are brutal, and the reporting from Sky points one way. But a Sky expectation is still not a club announcement, and United have not blown the whistle. If the change does come, the reported split between Howe and Nagelsmann camps inside the recruitment set-up may matter as much as the results that got Carrick here. Until the club speaks, this is a manager under siege, not a manager gone.
