Michael Carrick reveals he is making plans for next season despite Man Utd uncertainty

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Michael Carrick has revealed he is being consulted over decisions for next season by the Manchester United hierarchy prior to the club deciding their next permanent head coach.

The former United midfielder, 44, has had a transformative effect since returning to Old Trafford in an interim capacity following the departure of Ruben Amorim back in January, winning seven of his 10 games in charge to lift the Red Devils up to third place in the Premier League .

While qualifying for next season's Champions League would further enhance Carrick's chances of being given a longer-term contract, it remains to be seen if he will be at the helm beyond the summer.

But even if there is a chance Carrick could depart in a few weeks time, he has been involved when it comes to certain aspects of planning for beyond the expiry of his contract.

When he was asked if he was involved in the decision to extend Harry Maguire's contract earlier this week, Carrick confirmed: “Certainly, in the role I’m in, there’s decisions that need taking care of.

“I said it as soon as I came here – I’m part of that and whatever that looks like moving forward, I’m part of that.

“I’m trying to improve things and make things better all the time. Certainly there’s conversations in different directions and different things that I’m definitely part of. And I think it should be that way anyway, because things need done. So I’m here to take care of that.”

Maguire has been an influential figure since Carrick took the reins and called on the club to get their recruitment right in the summer after putting pen to paper.

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The Red Devils are known to be in the market for at least one central midfielder and a left-sided attacker, with further signings also possible.

"We've had a great few months under the manager," the England defender said.

"I feel like the squad is starting to look like something that is a strong squad. But this summer's going to be big, really, really big. We need more players, we need better quality, we need players to come into the starting eleven.

"Looking at the Premier League at the moment, I think over the last few years you've obviously had Manchester City , who were really tough to catch, and before the start of the season, you knew you had to put a points tally together where it was some going to catch them.

"I think next season you look at it and I think we've got to be in the bracket where if we get the recruitment right and everything's positive from now to the end of the season and we keep going on the curve there's no ceiling to where we can reach. We've got to be in the conversation to go and win the big trophies."

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