Michael Carrick to greenlight instant £20m Man Utd signing as report names six stars who backed his appointment

Michael Carrick will waste no time in stamping his authority at Manchester United with his appointment as interim coach expected to be announced on Tuesday, while he could immediately dip into the transfer market to bolster an area of weakness at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils are ready to turn to Carrick after it became clear he had emerged ahead of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as the club’s choice to steer the team through the remaining 17 games of the season. The target for Carrick and Manchester United will be simple: win as many games as possible, try to achieve a top-four finish to secure Champions League football and raise the spirits of the club, which, for too long now, has been down in the doldrums.

The decision by INEOS perhaps comes as a surprise, given the strong reports at the back end of last week that suggested Solskjaer appeared a gimme to return to the club just over four years since his sack in November 2021.

However, as revealed by our correspondent Graeme Bailey, Carrick won United chiefs over with his interview and his vision for the club over the remainder of the season.

“Michael impressed hugely during his talks,” the source told Bailey. “He learned so much during his spell at Middlesbrough and feels he has a lot to offer.

“Ole came into the weekend as the preferred candidate; that was pretty clear, but now the club’s footballing department firmly believes that Carrick could offer something different and beneficial to the club.”

In addition, a report has revealed that six senior players helped sway chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox over the move for Carrick.

Per the Daily Mirror , the six who endorsed his return were Luke Shaw, Diogo Dalot, Harry Maguire, Bruno Fernandes , Amad and Tom Heaton – with all six having been at the club during the 44-year-old’s last spell at the club as the assistant to Solskjaer.

And with his former Middlesbrough assistant, Jonathan Woodgate, set to become part of the coaching team, the Red Devils are expected to formally confirm his appointment on Tuesday – and it may not be long before his first signing as United’s interim boss is also ushered in…

With Carrick’s appointment agreed and with the January window open for business, a report in The Guardian claims there will be ‘finance at the new manager’s disposal’ as he looks to strengthen his squad.

And per the report, the new man in charge is looking to quickly bolster an area of perceived weakness: their central midfield, and with it, the signing of Ruben Neves .

With the player out of contract at the end of this season, we revealed how his agent had offered the 28-year-old to United and Newcastle.

Furthermore, we revealed that his side are keen to offload the player this month for a fee of around £20m, though until now, United had resisted the urge to say yes to his signing.

Now, per The Guardian , Carrick has given United the green light to pursue his signing, though he will need to take a significant pay cut before moving to Old Trafford, given his current £300,000 a week package in the Middle East.

United, though, do see Neves as a stop-gap solution before they splash out on at least one expensive midfielder this summer.

Meanwhile, speculation that Bruno Fernandes could leave United is heating up, amid claims that INEOS has set their sights on a thrilling €90m-rated replacement currently wowing audiences in Italy.

However, there will be competition for the player in question, with our transfer insider Dean Jones revealing on December 23 that Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea are also watching the 20-year-old’s situation closely and are ready to pounce if his contract talks collapse.

Elsewhere, United’s worst fears appear to have been realised when it comes to the capture of primary midfield target Elliot Anderson, with sources telling TEAMtalk that .