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Unai Emery is among Manchester United’s dream candidates to replace Michael Carrick, who is on the brink at Old Trafford after their Champions League humiliation at Como.

United face a huge decision on Carrick after their wretched winless stretched to seven games – with Wednesday nights 4-1 defeat in Italy the worst of the lot. Bruno Fernandes’ criticism of Carrick’s tactics in an interview with TNT revealed unrest in the dressing room and that could be the final straw for the ex-Middlesbrough boss.

Having got the last two appointments so wrong – Carrick followed the unmitigated disaster of Ruben Amorim – there would be huge pressure on the Ineos kingmakers if they decide to roll the dice on another mid-season change.

They will be faced with a dilemma. Go for an out-of-work candidate like Eddie Howe or Antonio Conte or try and lure one of their most coveted options like Emery or Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler.

The i Paper understands that Emery, who led Villa to the Europa League title and qualifying for the Champions League, has plenty of admirers among the Old Trafford hierarchy, who noted how he was forced to rip up and rebuild his squad in a summer spent wrangling with financial fair play regulations.

His superb record at Villa Park has seen him deliver two fourth-placed finishes and also a Champions League quarter-final – vastly superior to anything United have served up during the same period.

Whether Emery, who has been at Villa Park since 2022, would entertain a job offer from Manchester United remains to be seen. Sources close to him have suggested he is absolutely committed to Villa, where he enjoys huge power and influence, but there would undoubtedly be interest from the Old Trafford hierarchy in the Spaniard if Carrick leaves.

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Among the other candidates are Conte, whose direct, authoritarian approach would be a direct contrast to Carrick’s more collegiate philosophy. The Italian is understood to be keen on the role, having been out-of-work since leaving Napoli at the end of last season.

His CV is one of the best in Europe, boasting multiple titles in Italy and England, but there are question marks over whether his abrasive, confrontational style would work at a club where the scrutiny is intense. Former United player Ashley Young, who has worked under Conte, said the appointment had the potential to be a “disaster” given concerns over the work rate of the current squad.

Howe is another out-of-work boss whose track record would demand attention and he is the current bookmakers’ favourite and, perhaps, the most sensible choice.

He left Newcastle in the summer having ended the Magpies long trophy drought and led them in two Champions League campaigns. He built one of the strongest sides in the country but departed this summer with the club in the middle of an extensive rebuild and having sensed impatience among the St James’ Park crowd.

He is not understood to be desperate to return to management and sources close to Howe are adamant that he would only take a job that feels the right “fit”. He is understandably demanding about having the right structure around him and would want influence in recruitment decisions so any discussions with Ineos would likely revolve around the role of Jason Wilcox, whose own job has come under scrutiny of late.

He wanted a lengthy break from football after a relentless few years at Newcastle but would Howe really be prepared to pass on Manchester United if they came knocking?

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Former Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna is also understood to be interested, having been linked with the job when Carrick was appointed. Back then United decided to delay in the belief that this summer would have seen world class coaching options available – only for Carrick’s record in charge to make him the most compelling candidate.

McKenna’s influence is understood to show up well across data metrics and he was Brighton’s first choice to replace Roberto De Zerbi before they opted for Hurzeler. He is also a former Manchester United coach, having been promoted from the academy by Jose Mourinho.

Hurzeler is also on United’s radar, although with Brighton performing so well in the Premier League that is another sales pitch that may fall on deaf ears.

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Et tu, Bruno? Keeping the headphones in and his phone switched off might not be enough to save Michael Carrick now.

If Lisandro Martinez drew the blade after last week’s supine retreat in Madrid, pointing it upstairs, his captain went straight for the jugular, plunging it into Carrick after another lame defeat in Como.

“That’s on the manager and staff to see, not me. Sometimes you have to be more brave under pressure, take the risk of pressing high and making them uncomfortable,” Fernandes said.

“As you saw with them, the centre-back was coming to mark me in my own half. We need to do that as a team but we were unable to. A team that plays through the middle with small connections, if you give them too much time and space, then they can hurt you out wide.”

That is not a minor quibble about positioning, arguing the toss about strategy, that is the Manchester United talisman and captain, last season’s Premier League Player of the Year, questioning your credentials. There is no way back from that.

The argument for ending Carrick’s reign was initially about competence. Now it’s for his own good.

Manchester United shakes you down, strips you bare, leaving you without the capacity to think straight or act rationally.

The performance in Como was so bad it rendered criticism unnecessary. What more is there to say that has not already been said? If the players were looking to the touchline for answers, some guidance or direction, they were met by a tall bloke, stroking his chin.

It was a strong look when United were ripping it up in the temporary period of Carrick’s reign. Here, he was a coach without a semblance of purpose or pattern. It felt like we were watching an ensemble from the Eccles Sunday League masquerading as Manchester United. Out-run, out-thought, out-fought.

Some might bristle at the gall of Fernandes, who has morphed into a kind of Bruno imposter, his alarming decline its own bellwether for this desperate season. If Carrick got one thing right last night it was hooking Fernandes just past the hour.

United were already three down by then, the skipper unrecognisable from the figure who dragged them into third last term, the flicks aimless, passing erratic, engagement wholly negative.

The fear must be that this spiral is not done yet. Have you heard the one about next season’s Manchester derby taking place in the Championship? Gallows humour is all there is left.

The first half was particularly damning. Bryan Mbeumo was isolated, emphasising absence of connection in the team. United were not only poor in duels, they surrendered possession too easily.

Como were organised and urgent, or, put another way, well coached and fit, qualities with which United are unfamiliar. The ball was a bar of soap for the first 20 minutes for United, bouncing off shins and ankles. At throw-ins the team shaped like the under-12s.

The mighty Nico Paz killed United not only with skill but his capacity to run harder and faster. The introduction of Carlos Baleba gave United a degree of shape and control after the break but even he coughed possession for the third.

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Carrick was clearly angry and took responsibility. Was he saying sorry or waving goodbye when he walked over to what remained of the travelling cohort behind a goal? “I have to apologise to the supporters. I care about this football club as much as anyone, if not more, with the position that I’m in and what I value this football club. For us to play in that way is not acceptable.”

Correct. This is Carrick’s team, the one he prepares and picks. He is responsible for method and tactics, if indeed they are applicable terms. The candidates to replace him filled the ether as he spoke. Eddie Howe, Julian Nagelsmann, Fabian Hürzeler and even that old Italian crooner Antonio Conte gets a mention.

The arguments continue about the failings of ownership and the leadership of the executive class. Carrick cannot escape what’s coming, however. He is not the root cause. But he is a part of the problem, lacking both the experience and charisma to ringfence the players and protect them from the idiots above.

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It was a moment to set red and white alarm bells ringing.

Nordi Mukiele’s claim that Sunderland have become “arrogant” after defeat to Bournemouth felt significant, as did dropping to the bottom of the Premier League table – although there is mitigation for that.

So what has gone wrong on Wearside? And what are the club doing to put it right?

Recruitment drive stalled

After a brilliant first summer the jury is out on Florent Ghisolfi’s work in the 2026 transfer window.

Among the priorities the Black Cats wanted to make the squad taller and more experienced for Europe, which explains the signings of Dayann Methalie and Kevin Danso. They also wanted versatility in wide areas.

But the market proved more difficult than the club expected, with little movement across Europe in the £20-30m price bracket Sunderland were working in.

That slowed the progress of their recruitment drive, meant bringing in another striker was impossible, and left them scrambling for key additions in the final days of the transfer window.

Malick Fofana is yet to make an impact – Regis Le Bris thinks he needs time to “adapt” – while Danso, a supposed plug-in-and-play option, has been error-prone. Jules Ahoka clearly has something but is young and will take time.

Of the players who departed Eliezer Mayenda and Lutsharel Geertruida would probably be getting plenty of minutes. The former’s absence has been felt with injuries to Brian Brobbey and Wilson Isidor.

These issues are ironic given Sunderland are now seen by many in the game as the blueprint for newly-promoted Premier League clubs.

Their boldness in totally overhauling their play-off winning squad – aided by a PSR “blank cheque” after some shrewd player-trading – won them admirers in boardrooms across the game. But success, and qualifying for Europe, has proved a double-edged sword.

Sunderland’s room for manoeuvre in the transfer market has been squeezed considerably by making it into the Europa League, which means they can only spend 70 per cent of their revenue on wages, transfer costs and agent fees. There is probably room to spend in January if needed – but it might mean a summer sale.

Dressing room ‘united’ – but displays dipping

Mukiele’s interview after Bournemouth was a remarkable intervention. To question the mentality of his teammates as he did felt like a fork in the road in a season beginning to spiral.

But this was not a Lisandro Martinez moment. There was no punishment from the club hierarchy or clear-the-air talks required to put it in context. Instead senior sources saw it as a good thing that he spoke out.

Granit Xhaka did the same last season but it largely remained behind closed doors.

“It’s actually a very honest dressing room. These guys aren’t hiding away from the fact things need to improve,” one insider tells The i Paper. It has been stressed that there is unity among the players and the club remains “united”.

Now the performances and displays need to match the rhetoric. Sunderland are not without talent in their squad but last season’s performance came on the back of hard work, humility and a willingness to shelve personal ambition for the greater good. Do those values still apply?

The opening-day defeat to Ipswich was a worry. Some observers felt they turned up with the swagger of a team that had finished seventh last season rather than the point-to-prove attitude they had 12 months before.

One insider has a more prosaic view – too many of their key men are suffering a dip in form simultaneously. Robin Roefs, brilliant last season, has the third lowest xG prevented of all 20 Premier League goalkeepers this term and is not playing well.

Xhaka is also struggling to replicate last season’s performances while the less said about Omar Alderete’s displays the better.

Backing for Le Bris amid fan scrutiny

The i Paper understands the Sunderland boss retains “plenty of credit in the bank” and there is no panic at the club about the position they find themselves in. To put it succinctly – the plan is to back Le Bris.

Given we are seven games into the Premier League season – and the club have made a winning start in Europe – it feels slightly surreal to even ask the question of the manager who has taken the team from 16th in the Championship into the Europa League in little over two seasons.

Kyril Louis-Dreyfus has proved himself ruthless in the past, but Le Bris is safe despite the early-season slump.

“Business as usual” is how sources describe the feeling at the Stadium of Light, but Le Bris is facing scrutiny from supporters, especially over team selections. Overlooking Chemsdine Talbi feels especially curious given he made an impact against Hull in the Carabao Cup.

He deserves time and patience to turn things round. This is a big week but he has shown before that he has the acumen and ability to lead this Black Cats side through rough periods.

Fixture pile-up – but ‘no excuses’

Playing Thursday-Sunday is a new experience for Sunderland and undoubtedly puts the pressure on. Injuries have already left them stretched and Le Bris’ attempt at rotation last week was only salvaged when senior men came off the bench to beat Torreense.

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The Black Cats are experimenting with ways to mitigate the impact of Europe. They stayed in Portugal an extra 48 hours to preserve sleep patterns – although the team then served up a stinker on the south coast. There are likely to be changes to the team again this week.

Some of this is unavoidable. They have progressed quicker than anticipated and it throws up issues. But as one senior source said this week: “It’s what we wanted – it can’t be used as an excuse.”

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This season we’re doing football journalism differently. Join The i Paper Sport channel on WhatsApp here to vote for the club Daniel Storey should cover this week on The Journeyman

RUSHDEN — The referee starts to blow his final whistle, but he and his assistants are already on the move. The locals, particularly those who have come to an AFC Rushden & Diamonds game at Hayden Road for the first time, have sensed the opportunity for a pitch invasion and have sat on advertising boardings throughout stoppage time. 

Two minutes later and half the pitch is covered. Many are holding plastic pint glasses, although many have been strewn aside to facilitate lifting up a white-shirted player or manager Elliot Sandy. He sits on shoulders above the throng, paraded like the trophy they could technically still win. “Leicester away, ole ole,” most of them sing.

It will not be Leicester away, although who cares really. I came to Rushden to help spread the gospel of why phoenix clubs are so brilliant. Semi-inadvertently I have landed upon this football club’s greatest ever day. You don’t get to see many triumphant pitch invasions live. You see even fewer in October.

Rushden & Diamonds held a special place in my teenage heart because of Championship Manager: Season 01-02, a cultural behemoth (for specifically my kind of people) the likes of which will never be surpassed. Rushden were a fourth tier English club with – crucially – comfortably the biggest transfer kitty in the division.

That allowed you to spend the first summer buying the names that were more familiar to you than your teachers at school and more dear to you than your extended family: Mike Duff, Michael Dunwell, To Madeira, Hugo Pinheiro, Scott Huckerby. You did a Scandi rain dance and prayed that making your nationality Swedish might persuade one of that glorious overpowered crop to up sticks and make a new life in Northamptonshire.

In reality, the Rushden & Diamonds story was more sombre than (Cherno) Samba. They rose through the divisions – four promotions in a decade – thanks to the ownership and investment of Max Griggs, owner of local company Dr Martens. In 2003-04, they played in the third tier with Brighton, Bournemouth and Brentford. Rushden lost eight of their last nine league games to be relegated on the final day.

And that’s roughly where an irrepressible rot set in. Rushden got too big, too quickly. The ground, Nene Park in Irthlingborough, was Championship standard but the club was losing money and Griggs eventually handed control to a Supporters’ Trust that had little hope of stopping the bleeding. Two more owners cut costs but never enough because the spiral had started.

In June 2011, eight years after promotion to the third tier, Rushden were expelled from the Conference National because they could not guarantee fulfilling fixtures. A month later, inevitable administration and then liquidation. It doesn’t happen often to former league clubs but once is too many: Rushden & Diamonds died.

Phoenix clubs must be cherished because of exactly how they are born. At the time of the worst crisis, when it feels like nobody else is helping enough, a group of people connected only by supporting a football team that now no longer exists come together. They put it upon themselves to work through nothing but love, loyalty, a sense of community and the weakest light at the end of a long tunnel.

Supporters formed AFC Rushden & Diamonds. They took on the administration for registering with the local Football Association and joining a league. They oversaw the creation of a “one member, one vote” constitution that exists to this day. They arranged the move to a new ground. They held trials for youth players and worked towards establishing a senior team within 12 months.

They had no experience and little expertise. They had other jobs and commitments. They faced roadblocks and stumbled along the way. And they achieved everything that they set out to do. In August 2012, AFC Rushden & Diamonds played their first match in United Counties League Division One. Nothing else mattered.

That work continues to this day. The aim was never overambitious, no talk of league football again please. Rushden are in the Northern Premier League Division One Midlands, the eighth tier of English football. They are still run by volunteers who are the heartbeat of the club and spent last week tidying up the stadium, producing a one-off matchday programme, arranging extra catering options and working with the council to manage unprecedented numbers of supporters.

In one sense this is nothing special at all. Up and down the country, an army of volunteers powers the football pyramid from the bottom up. It is, without doubt, the best thing about English football. Rarely is their work lauded by the outside world and more rarely still are they thanked. 

But this was still a landmark day. A year ago, AFC Rushden & Diamonds were eliminated from the FA Cup on 2 August in the extra preliminary round by Grimsby Borough. This year they set up a tie against Morecambe by knocking out five clubs: Kimberley Miners Welfare, Long Eaton United, Desborough Town, Peterborough Sports and Braintree Town. 

Morecambe are themselves a recent-ish League One team. They are huge favourites. On the way into the ground, a child turns to his father with wide-eyed amazement and says of the opposition: “Dad, they are full-time footballers”. It’s that sort of occasion. 

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And it is an afternoon sent from heaven straight down to a tiny ground in a town in Northamptonshire. Sam Brown’s long throws cause carnage. The centre-backs win every header. Attacking midfielder Bruno Andrade, once of QPR and then a host of EFL clubs, is thoroughly enjoying rolling back the years, his forename chanted on repeat whenever he drifts out wide and within touching distance. James Clifton scores to send Hayden Road barmy. Three minutes later, Matty Warburton’s free-kick makes it 2-0 and everybody around me is losing their mind.

Joe Garner, now 38 and the scorer of more than 120 EFL goals, scores early in the second half and the onslaught predictably arrives. But Rushden are magnificent to a man, none more so than 22-year-old goalkeeper Charlie Woods. They tire badly but they still fight harder. The ball is kicked anywhere because, for at least 15 minutes, anywhere will do. And they get their moments of magic and their FA Cup first round draw.

Days like these matter so much. This FA Cup run has already provided at least £38,000 in prize money to Rushden, vital for a club at this level. Television coverage in the next round would give them even more. The ground was sold out on Saturday, six times the attendance of a home league game last month. Some of those will stick around. Kids will ask parents if they can go back to Hayden Road. The spotlight shines briefly but the glow provides a residual warmth. 

The FA Cup has taken AFC Rushden & Diamonds on an unthinkable journey, but nothing really changes. Somehow that is the best bit. On a cold Monday morning, a group of volunteers met at the home turnstile at Hayden Road. The job: clean up the ground that played host to a Saturday afternoon like no other. After all, who else is going to do it?

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That’s how the English pyramid is powered: by bin liners, cold Monday mornings and a collection of people who act as the wind beneath the wings of hundreds of community institutions.

I went to Nene Park back in 2004, just as the dark clouds were forming. It was a Championship Manager pilgrimage really, the home of my mythical super team just an hour or so down the road. I hardly thought that I’d be back in such different circumstances: different club, different people, different ground, different town.

But I’m so glad that I did. It’s an oft-repeated line, but the greatest privilege of this job is that every match you attend might just be the best or worst day of each club’s year. In the case of AFC Rushden & Diamonds, it was the greatest day in their history, reaching the FA Cup first round for the first time. They’re going to Wembley with Elliot Sandy, as they chanted before kick off. Obviously not. But still possibly.

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Poor Cristiano, taking lumps from a middling coach who did not see the world the CR7 way.

Erik ten Hag gave an interview this week delivering an unprovoked attack on the Ronaldosphere. No legs? Couldn’t run? Who is Ten Hag, another spectacular management dud, to judge the greatest player who ever lived? Stick to FC Twente, son, and leave the world stage to those who command it!

This is not me but my inner Piers Morgan talking. With his tweets defending Ronaldo, he speaks for all those apologists who have yet to accept the reality of bio-mechanical decline in humans. Indeed, like Ronaldo himself, the die-hards refuse to see Ronaldo as human at all, but god-like, which is at the root of his post- peak difficulties.

Ten Hag inherited Ronaldo when he became Manchester United manager in May 2022. Ronaldo arrived from Juventus a year prior aged 36. It always felt like a romance too far, United jumping in response to speculation linking Ronaldo to Manchester City.

His tally of 24 goals, 18 in the league, was remarkable when taken in isolation. Powered by Ronaldo United actually went backwards falling from second in the previous season to sixth, and closing under Ralf Rangnick following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s dismissal.

Ronaldo appeared just 16 times under Ten Hag, leaving acrimoniously. The end was beautifully choreographed in a woe is me ‘interview’ with Morgan, the critique distilled into two episodes. He felt betrayed by United, did not respect Ten Hag, and was forced out.

Whilst Ronaldo’s criticisms of the hierarchy ring just as true today, there was no acknowledgment of his role in the divorce. No mention of personal decline, which was clear to all despite the goals.

In a characteristically blunt interview with The Athletic, Ten Hag has finally responded, claiming Ronaldo let him and the club down. “I flew out to Portugal to speak with him about what I was aiming for before I came to United. Obviously, he’s one of the best in football history. I respected him a lot. But at that time, as a manager, I had to make a rational decision and keep the players I admire in.”

You can imagine the audience, Ronaldo on his throne, Ten Hag at his feet on one knee, Morgan, the ever-attentive vizier, chuckling behind a curtain at the theatre of it all. Whatever the intentions of manager and player, cordiality could not survive Ronaldo’s growing fallibility on the pitch.

“He ran neither in possession nor out of possession. The reason was because he didn’t prepare himself,” Ten Hag said. “Every top team has to embrace the top player, but the top player has to work for the team.

“He was telling the players, ‘save your legs at the training’. I understand it when you are top fit – you have sessions you can save the legs. But first you have to train yourself to get into the right fitness levels.”

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All of this found an echo with Portugal during last month’s international break, a disbelieving Ronaldo taking personally the legitimate decision of coach Jorge Jesus not to use him for much the same reasons as Ten Hag. For the behaviour that followed, he was given a backdated 30-day ban and £215 fine was handed down this week, the cost of having his eyebrows threaded.

Ronaldo grinds on with Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League, where the pretence of relevance is maintained by a fawning court. He says this is probably his final year, after all he turns 42 in February.

Juventus was the swansong moment, two Scudetti and the Coppa d’Italia would have been a significant finale to a great career. Instead, vanity compelled him to return to United, and the judgment of a coach waving a stopwatch.

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Preston North End used to be the most mediocre football team in the Championship, 11 straight years without play-offs or serious relegation fears. Now they’re not. Instead they’re the worst football team in the Championship.

After 11 league matches, the signs look impossibly bad. Preston have taken four measly points and there is already a gap to those clubs they would have hoped to finish above: Bolton, Cardiff, Charlton, Portsmouth, Lincoln. Just a bad run? Preston play four of the division’s current top seven in their next five games. Stopping the bleeding is proving a task beyond everyone.

Every element of the team looks broken. Preston have scored nine times in 11 matches because they average the fewest shots on target, have the worst shooting accuracy and rank second worst for converting the low number of shots they do have into goals.

And somehow that’s not the weakest part of the team. Preston have conceded 24 goals in 11 games; they’re on course to reach triple figures. Against Birmingham City last midweek, their defending was abysmal both individually and as a collective. Every mistake breeds another and no player seems able or willing to lead teammates on to be more competent.

Preston have already made their move. Paul Heckingbottom oversaw a dire run over the second half of last season – six points from 36 between January and March – kept his job despite fan unrest and was then sacked seven league games into this campaign. Is that joined-up thinking?

Heckingbottom’s replacement is club legend Graham Alexander, supported by club legend Chris Lucketti. In any other circumstances, that would whip up a frenzy of nostalgic goodwill that often provides tangible positive impact. But at Deepdale, the suspicion is that the club will drag the heroes down far quicker than it can be dragged up by them. Alexander has lost all three matches and conceded four goals twice already. 

The great irony is that summer promised to knock the club out of its deep rut of apathy, just not like this. Preston spent big, beyond anyone’s reasonable expectations. Five of the top six largest transfer fees paid in the club’s history occurred in July or August 2026. They tried to address the age of the squad – six players aged 23 or under were signed. 

None of it has worked. Last season, Preston’s best was fuelled by three excellent loan signings: Alfie Devine, top scorer Lewis Dobbin and Harrison Armstrong, an exceptionally talented midfielder for the level. Devine has joined permanently but no other signing has impressed. The three loanees – Liam Gibbs, Caleb Wiley, Jusef Erabi, Delano Burgzorg – have offered almost nothing positive of note.

The only caveat for the most stinging criticism is the uncertainty that reigns. A takeover by Saudi businessman Amr Zedan was first reported in January, with Zedan present at a home game in April. That takeover has still not reached completion.

But that’s barely half a defence. In August, a statement from chairman Ian Penrose told supporters that negotiations were still ongoing with parties, but that “this is not an easy and quick process, and there can be no certainty that a sale will be concluded”. It has been nine months – how long can “who knows?” last for?

All the while, Preston get worse and a takeover must seem less viable at the same price. Who wants to buy a club stuck in a spiral of its own incompetence?

Supporters can diagnose the issues – it’s not difficult and they are not stupid. If you have a collection of decision makers and leaders who you felt proved themselves incapable of making rational, sensible calls without spending heavily, what gave anyone confidence that they were the right people to oversee the spending? 

Supporters understandably feel that there is an accountability vacuum. Peter Ridsdale, the CEO, and the recruitment team have questions to answer. Most obviously: how does an emphatically midtable football club embark upon a spree of squad spending after years of atrophy and immediately get far worse?

Except that maybe this is all interrelated. Being a Preston North End supporter has been hard for a long time. It erodes the spirit because it takes so much energy just to generate some excitement after repeated seasons of being disinterested by February at best. Unrequited hope becomes your bedfellow. 

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How often does a magnificent rise actually follow such an extended slump? Instead, it’s far more likely that everybody gets stuck in a pattern of mediocrity that is impossible to dig their way out of. So when significant change finally comes, it is for the worse. Allow drift to consume your club and don’t be surprised when the end result is being sucked down a plughole. 

And when you get there – no surprise – nobody really has the stomach to fight it. New signings have been sold a dream that isn’t real and have less emotional investment because they have just arrived. The old guard are familiar with the struggle but hardly in a good way.

Supporters are all out of anything useful at all bar grim loyalty. Those in charge have proven that they have no handle on how to make this work better. Welcome to Deepdale in 2026, where mediocrity is now the ceiling and the floor doesn’t exist.

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Two months into the new season and Manchester United’s hierarchy are already looking at ways they can overhaul the squad next summer.

The start to the season has been poor even by United’s recent standards. A leaky defence, one of only two in the Premier League yet to keep a clean sheet this season, has been their undoing once more. It’s a result of an unforgivable lack of investment in that area of the pitch.

United elected to spend all their spare funds on midfielders in the summer, leaving an ageing Luke Shaw as the only recognised left-back, 33-year-old Harry Maguire still required to play multiple times per week and Diogo Dalot as first-choice right-back.

There is a recognition, even among senior figures, that the defence should have been addressed in the summer, The i Paper has been told. As a result, the club’s recruitment team have set the wheels in motion to completely transform the rearguard roster.

Maguire to stay, Martinez and Shaw could leave

It is understood that Lisandro Martinez, even before his explosive rant at director of football Jason Wilcox and the club’s hierarchy, was considering leaving at the end of the season.

He was heavily linked with a move to Atletico Madrid in the summer. The i Paper has been told there remains interest from Atletico and several other Spanish clubs in the Argentine, who favours a move to La Liga, should he leave.

Martinez’s contract expires next year, but United can trigger a one-year contract extension and then command a fee. Several sources suggested that, when you consider United’s recent track record in the transfer sales market, they may just “cut their losses” and get Martinez’s wages off the books, if he prefers to head for the exit.

Maguire is more likely to stay, with the club set to trigger the extra year option on his contract. The England centre-back is a popular dressing room figure, with leadership qualities helping guide youngsters like Ayden Heaven and Leny Yoro through the pressure of being a United defender.

Shaw’s future is less secure. His contract also runs out at the end of the season, but his hopes of earning an extension rest on being willing to accept lower terms than his current £200,000-a-week salary.  

The club will assess how Shaw copes with the more congested calendar this season before they make any decision.

Hall and Truffert targeted, plus at least one centre-back

Everyone at the club, at all levels, recognises United’s hierarchy made a huge misstep in not signing a left-back. Had Lewis Hall been available at a more acceptable price, then he would have arrived early in the summer window.

Newcastle’s price tag and reluctance to sell put paid to any pursuit, but it is understood United will revisit the deal next summer. Sources have told The i Paper that Hall was interested in a move to Old Trafford a few months ago and has not changed that stance.

The pursuit of Hall could bear a resemblance to Carlos Baleba’s signing. United bided their time and got the midfielder for what they feel was a more realistic fee this summer. Co-owners Ineos are keen to maintain their careful approach to the transfer market, given they feel they got their midfield targets for the going rate.

The club are also long-term admirers of Bournemouth’s Adrien Truffert, who is tipped to leave the south coast in the summer, as the Cherries’ latest transfer success story. It is understood United are set face plenty of competition for the French full-back’s signature.  

Matthijs De Ligt’s fitness will play a big part in United’s central defensive plans. The Dutch defender’s injury woes have dragged on much longer than anyone anticipated, but he was back in the squad for Sunday’s draw at Leeds.

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Should he return to full fitness before the end of the season, club officials hope De Ligt will return to the form he was showing when injury-free last term.

It is understood United will sign at least one central defensive option, with potentially another one arriving should Martinez leave.

Some of Martinez’s frustration is thought to centre around Heaven being deployed as a full-back in last week’s Atletico defeat, a sign of the club’s lack of investment in that area. Heaven is seen as a long-term central option who, alongside Yoro, will grow this season into the role, and begin to form a new central defensive team.

Should results continue on their downward trajectory, senior figures have not ruled out delving into the January market to strengthen the defence.

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