Paul Scholes delivers verdict on Man Utd appointing ‘real deal’ PL manager to replace Michael Carrick

Lewis Oldham

13 Oct 2026 1:10 PM

Paul Scholes in the stands at the Etihad.

Paul Scholes has commented on whether Manchester United should appoint Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler to replace Michael Carrick.

Hurzeler is working wonders at Brighton, and he is among the managers linked with a move to Man Utd.

Man Utd may soon be looking for a new manager because Carrick is under pressure after a poor start to the 2026/27 campaign.

Carrick is the favourite to be the first Premier League manager sacked because Man Utd have one win in six Premier League games, while they have also exited the Carabao Cup.

Eddie Howe and Antonio Conte are also linked with Man Utd as a possible replacement for Carrick, but Scholes also thinks Hurzeler is an option.

“He looks the real deal, but…”

Scholes thinks Hurzeler has one key advantage over Carrick, though he still has a concern about the potential appointment.

“He’s done great,” Scholes said on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast.

READ: Man Utd to appoint Bruno after Conte and Howe; next six managers predicted

“He looks the real deal, but again, Man United is different. The scrutiny is on you every single week. If Brighton didn’t win a game for the next 10 games, nobody would really be that bothered.

“The one thing that someone like Hürzeler has got over Michael is that he’s done a body of work in the Premier League. Michael did okay in Middlesbrough with what he had. I think Middlesbrough were probably expecting more with the budget they had.

“There’s a bit of me when you look at Michael because I know him; Michael’s a nice lad. Is there a bit of him that’s thinking, ‘Get me out of here. Get me out of here, I’ll take a few quid.’

“I’m not going to say he’s been let down in the transfer market because, again, he’ll be part of that. He’ll be part of the recruitment.

“Now, there are some clubs that just don’t want to consult the manager. I’m pretty sure at Man United, I’d say 90-odd per cent of clubs that managers are involved in recruiting.”

Scholes’ podcast co-host, Nicky Butt, has hit out at Man Utd’s hierarchy for “killing” themselves by making Carrick permanent manager at the end of last season.

“It was Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox who came in, obviously from City, so, god knows what’s going to happen there in the future. But they come in, they gave Ten Hag a new deal when everyone was thinking he wasn’t for the club,” Butt said.

“Then they go and get Amorim who, quite obviously, the way he played football wasn’t a good fit with the club. And then we’ve given Michael, and we said it way back then, and Michael’s a good friend of ours.

“However, we’re sitting here talking; you’ve got to be honest. When you give an ex-player who’s a fan who the fans love, everyone loves a Michael at Man United.

“When you give him a job, and he does well, you’re killing yourself because you’ve got to then give him the job full time. It happened with Ole. You bring him in, and you just know what’s going to happen. You’re going to get the bounce effect. You’re going to do really well, and then they’re forced to go and give him the job.”

Manchester United Fabian Hurzeler