Mourinho backs former player Carrick to succeed in Manchester United hot seat

Jose Mourinho has backed Michael Carrick to succeed as Manchester United manager, offering a brief but pointed endorsement of his former player and coaching assistant at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.

Asked for his assessment of Carrick’s work at Old Trafford, the Portuguese said: “He’s doing well Michael, doing well. I’m happy with that.” It was a characteristically concise verdict from a man who knows the pressures of the United job as well as almost anyone.

Carrick worked under Mourinho at United first as a player, retiring in 2018, and then as a coach. He was appointed interim head coach in January following the sacking of Ruben Amorim, and the impact was immediate. United climbed from a struggling mid-table position to finish third in the Premier League and secure Champions League football, posting a record of 11 wins, three draws and two defeats under his charge. That form earned him a two-year contract from Ineos.

The start of the 2026/27 campaign has been more uneven, with United collecting four points from their opening three Premier League games — a run that includes a defeat at Hull City and a draw at Everton. Mourinho’s comments arrive at a moment when early-season scrutiny is beginning to build.

Mourinho managed United between May 2016 and December 2018, taking charge of 144 matches and delivering a Community Shield, a Europa League and a League Cup. He was replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after a difficult third season.

The 63-year-old has previously been measured in his public reflections on his time in Manchester. “My career at Manchester United, I know it well. I also know the reason why I ended up leaving,” he said earlier this year. “But as I always do, or try to do, when I leave a club I close the door and then I do not make comments. I do not analyse externally what happened. A door closes and another one will open. The history stayed there, the numbers stayed there, the three medals came home and that is it.”