Who will be Manchester United manager next season? Carrick clear favourite after stunning start
Michael Carrick is off to a near-perfect start as Manchester United interim manager, with Champions League qualification looking increasingly likely.
But who will be in charge at the start of the 2026/27 season?
Well, here are the latest names according to the best odds available through Oddschecker, with Carrick’s enormously impressive start now getting us into clamour territory.
7=) Roberto De Zerbi
It’s all gone a bit Pete Tong at Marseille. De Zerbi might not bring the stability Man Utd desperately need…
7=) Andoni Iraola
Has Bournemouth back on one of their hot streaks after a long and painful cold one, so who knows. Could certainly soon be much more loudly linked again with the assortment of big jobs that look like being available this summer.
7=) Mauricio Pochettino
A long-term Man Utd target, who could be a free agent after the United States inevitably exits the World Cup early. It does feel likely that he will be their manager at some stage, but he may not be next.
7=) Nuno Espirito Santo
Hmm. We’re going to go with ‘no’.
7=) Xabi Alonso
Could the former Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid hero really pitch up at Manchester United? It’s certainly intriguing. But the feeling persists that he is being lined up by the Reds as a successor to the under-pressure Arne Slot.
6) Carlo Ancelotti
International managers are bound to be linked with World Cup sackings expected. Don Carlo will lead Brazil at the 2026 World Cup.
5=) Julian Nagelsmann
Does seem feasible that he could at last be Premier League-bound, in accordance with the prophecy, after leading Germany at the World Cup.
5=) Luis Enrique
There has been persistent talk that the Spaniard wants a new challenge and is open to leaving PSG this summer. Man Utd would certainly represent a new challenge.
4) Gareth Southgate
He doesn’t want the job and there’s little indication since the departure of Dan Ashworth that they want him for the job, and yet here we still are. He remains one of the best available managers even as he remains pretty much unavailable.
3) Thomas Tuchel
He is likely to be available after the World Cup and there is a theory that this whole England shebang was designed to get him another Premier League job. It’s hard to see him at Liverpool and he is above Tottenham, so Manchester United is a very obvious option. He would definitely be the choice of many Manchester United-adjacent pundits.
2) Oliver Glasner
It’s fair to say that the noise for Glasner has gone down as Palace have slipped down the Premier League table, while losing in the FA Cup to Macclesfield was hardly a ringing endorsement. There is also the small matter of his preferred formation being the formation that so angered Jason Wilcox.
We must also now consider the very real possibility that knowing he would be available in the summer is no longer as serendipitous as it once was, with there being no guarantee now that he even stays at Palace that long. Or that someone else won’t appoint him before United get round to it, even if they wanted to. Which we’re not sure they do.
In summary, this has gone from looking very likely to pretty unlikely with remarkable speed.
1) Michael Carrick
Starting his second temporary spell as United boss with a pair of victories over Man City and Arsenal is certainly one way to catch the eye at a club with a confirmed weakness for getting overexcited by what a bona fide club legend achieves in an interim role.
A Champions League spot is there for the taking given the struggles of various scales at your Chelseas, Liverpools, Newcastles and the Tottenhams of this world. And if Carrick does that, the clamour will become irresistible.
