Revealed: Carrick is Man Utd ‘frontrunner’ for two reasons as delay mooted; Solskjaer not ‘ruled out’

Two factors have reportedly contributed to Manchester United opting to favour Michael Carrick over Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for the interim manager’s role.

Following the exit of former head coach Ruben Amorim, it quickly emerged that Man Utd were looking to appoint an interim manager until the summer, at which point they will bring in a long-term successor to oversee a substantial rebuild.

In the short term, it has been heavily reported over the past week that the Red Devils are favouring Carrick and Solskjaer for the interim role, with the two managers having meetings with club chiefs towards the end of last week.

For most of last week, reports indicated that Solskjaer was the favourite to take over at Man Utd until the summer, but the situation has changed over the past 24 hours.

The latest information is that Carrick has overtaken Solskjaer in the running to replace Amorim, with Man Utd looking to have a new manager in the dugout in time for Saturday’s Manchester derby against Manchester City.

READ: Is everybody still ‘thronging around’ Darren Fletcher after that defeat?

On Monday morning, a report from The Athletic’s Laurie Whitwell revealed: ‘Carrick has emerged as the leading candidate after he and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer held face-to-face talks with club executives. Darren Fletcher, in caretaker charge for two games following Ruben Amorim’s sacking, is in line to potentially assist Carrick as a coach. It is thought another coach coming in to support Carrick would also be on the cards.

‘United insist no final decision has been made, but an announcement is anticipated in the next 48 hours. Director of football Jason Wilcox and chief executive Omar Berrada have led the process to appoint an interim head coach, with sign off required by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Glazer family.’

Now, The Daily Mail‘s Chris Wheeler has provided more information on the Man Utd manager situation, confirming that Carrick is currently the ‘frontunner’ over Solskjaer.

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While Solskjaer is not yet ‘ruled out’, there are said to be two factors behind Man Utd’s decision to favour Carrick.

Wheeler explained:

‘As well as impressing Berrada and Wilcox, the 44-year-old is said to have support from within the dressing-room from the players who worked with him when he was part of the coaching staff under Jose Mourinho and Solskjaer, before taking caretaker charge of games against Villarreal, Chelsea and Arsenal in the 2021-22 season.’

It has also been suggested that there could be an appointment as early as Monday and this report claims that ‘could be’ the case, but ‘sources believe the process may take longer’.