Romano reveals Man Utd ‘tried’ for ‘secret dream’ manager before Carrick appointment
Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Man Utd attempted to lure Paris Saint-Germain boss Luis Enrique to Old Trafford before choosing to appoint Michael Carrick as their new permanent manager.
Widespread reports have indicated that the Red Devils have reached an agreement to appoint Carrick as their next manager after the former midfielder’s impressive performance as interim boss.
After a poor start to the season, which led to Ruben Amorim being sacked, Carrick has led Man Utd to a comfortable third-placed finish in the Premier League.
That will guarantee Champions League football next season and a big boost to their summer transfer budget, as INEOS look to back Carrick in the window.
Carrick has looked like the favourite to replace Amorim permanently for a couple of months but Man Utd were considering other top names before the former England international proved himself.
And Romano has revealed PSG boss Enrique, who has led the French side to back-to-back Champions League finals, was the “secret dream” of some of the Man Utd hierarchy.
READ: Gary Neville picks more Man City than Arsenal players in TOTY and one obvious Man Utd star
Romano said on his YouTube channel: “Luis Enrique was the secret dream of some important people at Manchester United.
“United tried around January to see if there was a chance to maybe get him to the club this summer, but it was not possible.”
Man Utd legend Eric Cantona also recently praised Enrique for “building on” the philosophy of Barcelona icon Johan Cruyff at PSG.
When talking about Ligue 1, Cantona said on the BRUT YouTube channel: “There are matches I like to watch because I enjoy that style of play, like Barcelona for example, and certain players I like. So I’ll watch a match for that reason. So it’s not like if someone tells me a team is good, I’ll automatically watch it.”
The interviewer asked: “PSG?”
“No, Marseille – I’m from Marseille. But I really like Luis Enrique, and also Guardiola, the two ‘spiritual sons’ of Johan Cruyff, who built everything at Barcelona. And since then, they’ve been building on that philosophy.”
There are ‘still huge problems’ at Man Utd under Carrick
Despite their positive second half to the season, Man Utd legend Roy Keane insists there are “still huge problems” for Carrick to address over the summer and into next season.
When asked if Carrick deserves to become the permanent Man Utd boss, Keane told Sky Sports: “Yeah, he’s been in the driving seat the last few months.
READ: Midfielder ‘wants to be at Real Madrid’ not Man Utd – Fabrizio Romano
“I’m guessing the remit for him was to get in the Champions League, they’ve done that but there’s still huge problems ahead. Was he still the best option out there? We obviously don’t know what other managers they spoke to.
“But the fact he was winning football matches… but still huge problems at United. Huge problems.”
Keane added: “That’s going to be part of his remit now in terms of recruitment, getting players in, getting some physicality in the middle of the park, stop giving up the amount of goals they’ve been giving, that’s now the bigger picture he’s got to try and fix.
“So they’re the big challenges and obviously over the next few months any time they have a little sticky patch, the issue will be, has he got the experience to cope with it?
“He’s managed Middlesbrough previously, he’s had spells at United. He’s got the opportunity and good luck to him, if he does well fantastic. I’ve got my doubts but we’ll wait and see.
“It seems like a safe decision from the club’s point of view because their previous decision backfired on them. Carrick’s come in and settled everybody down and they’ve won some football matches. To me, it’s the safest decision and sometimes there’s nothing wrong with that.”
READ NEXT: Owen calls on Man Utd to give loan star second chance in the starting XI next season
