Carrick faces questions over failed left-back pursuit ahead of United's trip to Everton

Michael Carrick will hold his pre-match press conference on Friday ahead of Manchester United’s Premier League fixture at Everton on Sunday, with the head coach expected to face scrutiny over a transfer window that ended without the left-back reinforcement the club had targeted.

United made a late enquiry for Manchester City’s Rayan Ait-Nouri before Tuesday’s deadline, but the move did not materialise, leaving the squad without a specialist option in that position heading into the weekend.

The window did not close entirely without positives — United opened it with a 5-2 victory over Ipswich Town — but the failure to address a clear positional need is likely to dominate the early part of Carrick’s briefing.

Team news will also be on the agenda. Mason Mount missed last weekend’s game despite Carrick having cleared the midfielder to play in the previous press conference, and an update on his availability is expected. Carrick may also shed light on the fitness of Amad and the progress of Matthijs de Ligt, who has been sidelined with a long-term back injury.

One area of clarification that has already emerged concerns the Premier League squad list United submitted this week. Kobbie Mainoo and Leny Yoro are among the notable absentees from the 23-man list, but both remain eligible to play in the league. Under Premier League rules, players born on or after 1 January 2005 are classified as Under-21s and do not need to be included on the registered squad list.

The submitted list is also subject to homegrown player regulations, which stipulate that no more than 17 non-homegrown players can be named. A homegrown player is defined as someone registered with an FA or FAW-affiliated club for at least three full seasons, or 36 months, before their 21st birthday or the end of the season in which they turn 21.