Carrick attended the training headquarters of the Premier League giants on Monday to watch the Under-21s side play a behind closed doors friendly against Hull City Under-21s in the afternoon and left the facility at about 5pm local time seemingly none the wiser about his immediate future.
Also spotted at the training grounds earlier on Monday morning were Manchester United chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox, according to the Press Association, intensifying speculation that club management held crisis talks on Monday following United's disastrous 3-0 loss to Bournemouth at the weekend.
United are 16th in the Premier League standings and are in an eight-game winless run in all competitions (D3, L5) that includes heavy Champions League defeats to both Atletico Madrid (2-0 away) and Italian newcomers Como (4-1 away).
Carrick is therefore expected to oversee team training at Carrington on Tuesday after the players had a day off on Monday.
He is under increasing scrutiny just five months after signing a two-year contract off the back of a very impressive record of 12 wins from 17 Premier League games as a caretaker at the back-end of the 2025/26.
But with just two wins in 12 competitive matches this season, all of the capital he earned is rapidly dissipating.
Former Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has emerged as a frontrunner to succeed Carrick at Old Trafford, with the 48-year-old reportedly keen to return to the Premier League after resigning from Newcastle in July to "recharge his batteries".
English tabloid The Sun claimed sources told them that Howe is Wilcox's preferred choice for the role should Carrick be sacked, an option that is in line with majority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe's desire to keep the head coach role in the hands of an Englishman.
The Sun even went as far as to claim that Howe has been taking notes on United to be prepared for an imminent call-up to the job.
United bosses could also face the difficult choice of having to bring Howe's backroom staff with him, including assistant manager Jason Tindall and first team coaches Simon Weatherstone and Stephen Purches.
Manchester United face a crunch trip to London this weekend to face fifth-place Chelsea with a potential fall into the relegation zone looming should they fail to win.
Aaron Murphy has been with Flashscore since 2018 and, as the founding editor of the Australian newsdesk, has reported on-site at several major events in Melbourne including the Australian Open, State of Origin, A-League, NBL and international cricket. You can read his pieces here and contact him on X or LinkedIn.
