Carrick grows frustrated as Man Utd delay his sacking while finalising Pochettino deal

Michael Carrick is growing frustrated at Manchester United’s drawn-out handling of his expected sacking, with the 45-year-old continuing to take training at Carrington while the club finalises the paperwork to remove him.

United are understood to have decided internally that Carrick will be dismissed, yet no formal announcement has been made since reports of his impending exit first surfaced on Monday. According to The Telegraph, Carrick is “resigned to his fate” but has become increasingly irritated by the delay, with Thursday cited as the likely date he will be informed face-to-face.

In the meantime, Carrick has continued his duties as normal. He oversaw sessions on Tuesday with squad members not on international duty — including Harry Maguire, Mason Mount and Matthijs de Ligt — and was pictured arriving at the Carrington training base again on Wednesday morning.

The hold-up is tied to a board meeting in Monaco on Wednesday involving co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox. Berrada and Wilcox had already held talks on Monday, at which point they concluded a managerial change was necessary. United have publicly maintained that no decision has been made on Carrick’s future.

The club are keen to have a new head coach in place before their Premier League trip to Anfield to face Liverpool on 22 November. Mauricio Pochettino has emerged as the leading candidate, with a deal to appoint the Argentine reportedly being finalised.

Pochettino is currently managing the United States national team, having signed a contract extension in August that committed him to the role through the 2030 World Cup. However, that agreement is understood to contain a release clause allowing him to leave for a leading European club if compensation of just under $10 million (£7.44m) is paid.

The 54-year-old former Tottenham and Chelsea manager has long been associated with the Old Trafford job. He was first linked in 2016 as a potential successor to Louis van Gaal — speculation that intensified after he was photographed having lunch with Sir Alex Ferguson — before United turned to José Mourinho. He came back into contention following Mourinho’s departure in December 2018, only for the club to opt for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer instead.