Man United Confidential: Why club insiders are keen on Roberto De Zerbi?

Now Michael Carrick has been installed as Manchester United's interim head coach, talk will inevitably turn to Ruben Amorim’s long-term successor at Old Trafford.

Carrick and his backroom staff have been appointed until the end of the season, but it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that the 44-year-old emulates Ole Gunnar Solskjaer by doing so well that he lands the job on a permanent basis.

United will use the next few months to begin assessing candidates, and there are bound to be a number of names in the frame, but Confidential understands Roberto De Zerbi has many admirers at United.

The club are keen to appoint a head coach with Premier League experience after the Amorim gamble backfired, and De Zerbi made a good impression during his two seasons in charge at Brighton.

The Italian was interviewed by Ineos in May 2024, and considered a leading contender to replace Erik ten Hag, but he had joined Marseille by the time the United boss was sacked that October. De Zerbi guided the French club to a runners-up spot behind Paris Saint-Germain last season and they are currently third behind PSG and Lens.

The 46-year-old is under contract until 2027, but is believed to be interested in a return to the Premier League and it will be interesting to see if he comes into United’s orbit again.

The club will have a number of cheaper options available, including three Premier League managers who will be free agents in the summer – Oliver Glasner, Marco Silva and Andoni Iraola.

A number of other options are expected to open after the World Cup, not least England boss Thomas Tuchel, who was another leading contender when United were speaking to potential replacements for Ten Hag. Two other national team coaches with Premier League experience, Maurico Pochettino and Carlo Ancelotti, may also be available.

There will be no shortage of candidates if Carrick does only turn out to be a stop-gap, but United know they can ill afford to get it wrong again.

No change on transfers

Although United have had to change coach in mid-season, don’t expect the club’s transfer strategy to alter in the wake of Carrick replacing Amorim.

The prospect of having new signings in the January window was one of the issues that inflamed Amorim’s fallout with director of football Jason Wilcox, but United will maintain the same course now Carrick is in the hotseat.

That means the club would be in the market for established targets like Antoine Semenyo if they became available this month, but will otherwise wait until the summer to do the lion’s share of their business.

Semenyo joined Manchester City instead and will line up against Carrick’s side in this weekend’s Manchester derby at Old Trafford.

Unless United make any significant signings this month, they will be reluctant to let players leave. That could affect Joshua Zirkzee, who has interest from Roma, Manuel Ugarte, a target for Ajax and Galatasaray, and Kobbie Mainoo, who has been linked with a loan move to Napoli.

Some of the younger players will go out on loan for the rest of the season, with Toby Collyer in line to join Hull after spending the first half of the campaign at West Brom, and Harry Amass attracting interest from Stoke and Watford following a stint at Sheffield Wednesday.

Ethan Wheatley is expected to go on loan to Bradford City after he was recalled from Northampton Town, and Gabriele Biancheri will also gain experience in the EFL.

Kobbie’s waiting game

One player who probably didn’t shed too many tears at the departure of Amorim is Mainoo. The unhappy United midfielder made just one start under the Portuguese coach since the start of the season, and that was in the Carabao Cup debacle at Grimsby.

Mainoo was reinstated by caretaker boss Fletcher for the FA Cup defeat by Brighton, and it will be interesting to see how he is used by Carrick.

Although Fletcher said that Mainoo is ‘in a good place’, Confidential understands he remains as desperate as ever to play ahead of this summer’s World Cup and would still be open to a loan move this month if his opportunities are going to be limited under Carrick.

The 20-year-old also has a fragile relationship with the United hierarchy over the club’s failure to sign off on a new contract last year, leaving him as one of the lowest-paid senior players in the squad.

Amid the continuing links with Napoli, Mainoo has no wish to hang around at United if he isn’t going to play. In an ideal world, Amorim’s exit will signal a fresh start and he will be able to revive his career at his hometown club and play his way back into Tuchel’s World Cup plans.

One step nearer to Saudi

Confidential revealed in October that United could bank around £10million from a mid-season trip to Saudi Arabia, and that prospect has moved a step closer in the wake of the club’s FA Cup exit.

Going out in the third round for only the third time in 42 years, after falling at the first hurdle in the Carabao Cup as well, means United have been consigned to their shortest season since the First World War.

A total of just 40 games will hit the club’s battered finances hard, after defeat by Tottenham in last season’s Europa League final cost United £100m in Champions League income and triggered a £10m penalty payment to sponsors adidas.

Last month, it emerged that United’s debts have rocketed to a record £1.29billion, and losing 10 home fixtures compared to last season – at a cost of around £5.3m-a-game – will leave another black hole.

Going out of the FA Cup has opened up two gaps in the schedule around the fourth and fifth rounds, which include breaks of 13 days in February and 10 days in March – although United would have to work around Ramadan, which takes place between mid-February and late March.

Both coincide with Riyadh Season and United have been in talks with the Saudis over a visit that could involve playing in the Riyadh Season Cup – a three-way tournament against the capital’s two biggest clubs, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal, which featured Inter Miami in February – or individual friendlies.

United banked £8m from a post-season tour to Asia last year, and it’s estimated that playing in Saudi could be worth £5m for each game, a welcome boost in these difficult times.

Reds help underdogs

United were more than willing to throw their doors open to League One Exeter City last week in a bid to help the Grecians mastermind a famous win over rivals Manchester City.

The Red Devils have a history of welcoming other teams to their training ground when opponents are travelling from far away to prepare to take on Pep Guardiola’s side.

Carrington is full of mod-cons now, with everything from an altitude room, cryo chambers, underwater treadmill pool, an F1 simulator and a barbershop.

Gary Caldwell’s side got use of the facilities at the newly renovated Carrington late last week, although it didn’t have the desired effect as they were pummelled 10-1 at the Etihad Stadium.

United’s players return to training on Wednesday to prepare for their own clash with City and Carrick will hope his own preparations lead to far greater success against Guardiola and Co.

Murtough’s Macc miracle

Amid the drama and delirium of Macclesfield’s magical FA Cup win over holders Crystal Palace on Saturday, one prominent figure from United’s past went largely unnoticed.

While Wayne Rooney was on the verge of tears live on TV as he congratulated younger brother John for leading the non-League club to a historic victory, United’s former director of football John Murtough was caught up in the celebrations.

Murtough was spotted chatting with club staff on the pitch before the game, and then rather lost in the throng as jubilant fans ran on to the astroturf surface when the final whistle went on Macclesfield’s 2-1 win.

Confidential understands Murtough was at the game as a friend of one of the Macclesfield players. It’s unclear if that was former United defender Cameron Borthwick-Jackson or perhaps Luis Lacey, who had a significantly better weekend that his brother Shea after he was sent off on his Old Trafford debut against Brighton the following day.

Murtough left United in April 2024 after 11 years at the club as part of the shake-up under Ineos as Dan Ashworth was about to start his ill-fated spell as sporting director. Shortly afterwards, Murtough joined Italian club Atalanta as director of global development.

Valencia makes Vets comeback

As Carrick begins his stint as interim head coach, one of his former team-mates has just signed for a new club at the age of 40.

Antonio Valencia has joined the growing band of ex-Premier League stars at Wythenshawe Town in the Cheshire Veterans Football League.

Confidential recently revealed that another of Carrick former team-mates, Danny Simpson, had been added to a squad that already boasted Emile Heskey, Stephen Ireland, Danny Drinkwater and Papiss Cisse.

Valencia left Old Trafford in 2019 after making 339 appearances. The Ecuador winger returned to his homeland on a free transfer with LDU Quito, and had a brief spell in Mexico with Queretaro before retiring in May 2021.

Now Valencia has decided to pull on his boots again for Wythenshawe, who are top of the Premier Division with a 100 per cent record from four games and a goal difference of plus 32. The all-star team won their latest game 18-0 against Reddish North End on Sunday in the Manchester FA Veterans County Cup.

It’s safe to say that Valencia, who won two Premier League titles, the Europa League, FA Cup and League Cup twice with United, will soon have some more medals to add to his collection.

Travis-ty for U21s

Travis Binnion remaining with the first-team coaching set-up for the remainder of the season has raised questions about who will lead the Under 21s, who are top of Premier League 2 following Monday night’s 4-1 win away at Wolves.

Tom Curtis, head of player development 13-16, took the group while Tommy Rowe had been leading many of the training sessions last week while Binnion assisted Darren Fletcher for the Burnley and Brighton games.

The Under 21s play away at Fulham on Friday night, and figures around the team are still in the dark as to who will take charge until the end of the season.

Club sources have stressed that various options remain open but that Fletcher will continue to lead the Under 18s and will not step into the U21 role where he would have to manage his twin sons, Jack and Tyler.

There are a lot of spinning plates at United right now, from contract discussions with players to sorting out the situation around the first-team through to the end of the season. But the Under 21s are flying and they cannot allow their season to finish up a damp squib.