Antonio Conte Linked to Manchester United as INEOS Support Carrick
Manchester United’s season is barely out of first gear, the table already makes uneasy reading, and the rumour machine has done what it always does in a moment of doubt: it has gone straight for the manager.
This time, the name circling above Old Trafford is a heavyweight. Antonio Conte.
Conte at the Top of United’s List
According to the September 15 print edition of Corriere della Sera, relayed by Italian and European outlets, United’s co-owners INEOS have identified Conte as their leading candidate should they decide to move on from Michael Carrick.
The logic is obvious. Conte is available. He walked away from Napoli at the end of last season and has been waiting for what he considers the right project to drag him back into the day‑to‑day intensity of club management.
Few in the modern game bring a more decorated CV. The 57-year-old has collected 10 major trophies, built title-winning machines in multiple cities and under different pressures. At Chelsea, he ripped through the Premier League in 2016/17, winning the title with a system and a steel that reshaped the division for a spell.
Before that, he turned Juventus into a domestic juggernaut, claiming Serie A in 2012, 2013 and 2014. He then broke Juventus’ stranglehold with Inter Milan, delivering the Scudetto in 2021. With Napoli, he climbed back to the top of Italian football again in 2025.
This is the profile being linked to Manchester United at a time when Carrick’s side have collected only four points from their opening four Premier League matches. For a club that handed him the permanent job after he steered them into the Champions League for 2026/27, the early wobble has inevitably triggered speculation.
Carrick stepped in as interim manager in January 2026, steadied the ship, then earned the keys to the office. Now, with the season barely underway, his position is already being discussed in Italy as if the guillotine is being wheeled into place.
A Club Under Scrutiny, But No Immediate Axe
The reality inside Old Trafford is more nuanced.
While the Italian press talk up Conte’s chances and place him at the top of United’s notional shortlist, the message from those close to the club’s thinking is very different. Transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano has made it clear that INEOS are not preparing to sack Carrick.
On his YouTube channel, Romano outlined the current stance: United’s hierarchy “absolutely remain convinced that the future will be bright under Michael Carrick.” The owners, he explained, accept that the start has been disappointing, but they have not lost faith in the man on the touchline.
One area of internal reflection has been the summer transfer window. Romano detailed how United had targeted a left-back but refused to sign a player simply to tick a box. They explored options, did their homework, and then walked away when they felt the fit wasn’t right. It left a gap in the squad, but it also underlined a shift in approach: fewer panic buys, more conviction.
That decision, and the quiet window around it, has inevitably framed some of the early-season struggles. Four points from four games is not a crisis, but at a club of United’s scale, it always feels like the start of one.
Carrick, though, is not flinching. According to Romano, what the manager says in public – his insistence that the team will do very well, his confidence in the group – mirrors what he is telling the board behind closed doors. He believes this squad can climb, particularly once the current break is out of the way and the fixtures begin to flow.
Conte Waiting, Carrick Fighting
So the picture is this: a proven serial winner in Conte, free and open to the right offer, is being linked from abroad. Inside the club, INEOS back Carrick, see a project still in its early stages, and are not reaching for the reset button.
That tension is familiar at Manchester United. The external noise, the internal patience, the sense that one bad week can flip the narrative.
Conte will continue to wait for his next challenge. United will continue to judge Carrick on the weeks and months ahead, not just four league games.
The question now is simple and unforgiving: can Carrick’s United turn those quiet words of confidence into results quickly enough to stop that shortlist from becoming a live issue?
