Michael Carrick disagrees with Gary Neville on Man Utd star after ‘trade him in’ comment

Michael Carrick's opinion on Mason Mount and his future at Manchester United has emerged after Gary Neville's 'trade him in' transfer suggestion

Michael Carrick views Mason Mount as a useful squad player and appears to have no intentions on 'trading' him in, as suggested by Gary Neville. The United midfielder hasn't lived up to the billing at Old Trafford and is facing a pivotal summer with new recruits set to arrive.

With Casemiro off and Manuel Ugarte potentially following him through the exit door, United are planning on signing at least two central midfielders to compete with Kobbie Mainoo and Mount.

The latter is behind his compatriot in the pecking order, but The Athletic claim that Carrrick, who began his permanent tenure with a brilliant 3-0 victory at Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday, believes Mount's versatility across different positions will prove valuable to the squad as they compete across four competitions next season.

The former Chelsea player hasn't quite reached the expected standards following his switch from the capital with just seven goals in 72 matches, but did find his rhythm under previous head coach, Ruben Amorim and has looked bright in his few appearances towards the end of the season.

While United are prioritising two starting-calibre midfielders, Mount could yet play a role under Carrick next season. With United securing Champions League qualification, their fixture list next term will be more demanding and intense, meaning the Red Devils boss is going to have to rotate and rely on his squad depth.

Sunday's appearance marked just Mount's seventh under Carrick, having accumulated merely 200 minutes for the club. Fitness issues and selection dilemmas meant that Carrick's priority of stabilising the club prevented the midfielder from maintaining his first-team involvement.

With the new United boss eager to make use of the 27-year-old, any talk of a summer sale seems to have been firmly put to rest.

That is despite former Manchester United defender Gary Neville identifying the 36-time England international as surplus to requirements and a player the club could sell to generate transfer funds.

FOLLOW OUR MAN UTD FB PAGE! Latest United news and more on our dedicated Facebook page

"Michael Carrick will be very happy tonight but I think he will also be disappointed deep down that they haven't gone on to win that game 3-0 or 4-0," he said on his Sky Sports podcast after their victory over Liverpool earlier this month.

"They should have killed that game and put Liverpool to sleep because they were nowhere near this football match. He's won the game and that's the most important thing but Carrick won't be fooled by some of what he saw in that second half.

"He will know he needs to rebuild the defence and midfield. If you're going to play 4-4-2, which I am massively in favour of United doing, you have to have two very special players in there and defenders who can play one-on-one.

"You're asking a lot of the players. I think United need a left-back for next season because Luke Shaw has played every game this year and he may struggle.

"They need a centre-back, 100%, and they need two midfield players. They are the four priorities right now. They're the players I would look at adding to this squad."

He added: "Look, if you could then maybe trade Mason Mount for someone else who maybe can play in and out and can be a bit more flexible across the midfield and forward line then I would say go for a fifth.

"But if you can't, I would say those four areas are the priority and they've got to be top-notch, those players." United are set to spend big in the summer with big-money moves for the likes of Elliot Anderson, Ederson, Adam Wharton, Carlos Baleba and Sandro Tonali being talked up.

As ever, that will mean some players are likely to depart. The likes of Ugarte, Andre Onana, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford are expected to leave, though, some fringe stars could also be on the chopping block, including Joshua Zirkzee and Altay Bayindir.