Manchester United minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe (left), chief executive Omar Berrada (centre) and director of football Jason Wilcox will decide Michael Carrick's fate as head coach

Michael Carrick's future as Manchester United head coach will be determined 800 miles away from Old Trafford in Monaco on Wednesday.

Chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox are flying out for one of their regular pre-planned meetings to discuss strategy around the football club.

On this occasion, the main issue to be decided is Carrick's future and what should happen next.

It is expected that Berrada and Wilcox's recommendation is for the head coach to go.

It is not a situation Sir Jim Ratcliffe can have expected to find himself in again, less than three years after purchasing a minority stake in United.

On Christmas Eve 2023, his vision was much different.

"Our shared ambition is clear: we all want to see Manchester United back where we belong, at the very top of English, European and world football," he said.

Instead, United are 18th, in the Premier League's relegation zone after winning just one of their first 10 games and none since August. It is their lowest position so far into a top-flight season since 1986-87 when they were 20th.

Ratcliffe has been criticised for many decisions since he bought his 28.94% stake for just over £1bn. This is one he really needs to get right.

Ratcliffe's home is in Monaco and his company Ineos has offices in the principality.

The meeting had been in the diary for some time as a regular catch-up between senior executives and their boss.

Sources have stressed that the choice of location was not influenced by the debate around Carrick's future - it just happens to now be the most important item for discussion.

The decision to sack United's previous two managers was not made in a meeting in Monaco.

Ruben Amorim was sacked 19 hours after his explosive media conference following a 1-1 draw at Leeds in January.

Erik ten Hag went a day after Manchester United lost at West Ham leaving them with just three wins from their opening nine matches

A decision to sack Dutchman Ten Hag was taken at a meeting of senior Ineos executives in the summer of 2024, only for the choice to be reversed following the FA Cup final triumph over Manchester City.

Four months later there was a six-hour meeting at Ineos HQ in London as Ten Hag's tenure hung by a thread. He survived again but was gone three weeks later.

Amorim was summoned to Monaco after the Europa League final defeat to Tottenham in 2025.

There is daily contact between senior executives so if the meeting was purely to decide Carrick's fate, it could be done by video conference and the need to travel to Monaco is not the reason why there is yet to be a decision.

The travel element does add a complication given the preference for Berrada and Wilcox is to inform Carrick of any decision face to face.

Sources say the Monaco meetings used to be held every six weeks, although in more recent times they are less frequent.

Those who have attended them say they take place in the morning, tend to last between three and four hours and usually stop on time so Ratcliffe can go for his regular lunchtime jog.

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Carrick won 12 games out of 17 as interim boss to earn a two-year contract as Manchester United head coach in the summer

United stood by Carrick after the woeful 3-0 home defeat by Bournemouth on 25 October.

Club sources were adamant they wanted to give Carrick and his players a chance to turn the situation around it was also felt that the two-week international break in November represented a better chance for the club to properly assess the club's start to the campaign.

However, although they did end a long wait for a victory against Roma on 3 November, United had to come from two goals down to seal a 3-2 victory in a chaotic game.

They failed to press home their advantage after excelling in the first half against Chelsea and eventually lost 2-0 as experienced central defender Lisandro Martinez was sent off.

On Sunday, they conceded twice inside five minutes and had to come from two goals down twice to claim a point against Villa.

While sources said the comebacks showed the United squad were still playing for Carrick, it is also understood the chaotic nature of the games and the inability to stop the opposition from scoring has led Berrada and Wilcox, who were at all three matches, to conclude a change of coach is required to get United out of the mess they find themselves in.

United have conceded 30 goals so far this season in 15 games - 19 in 10 Premier League matches, eight in four in the Champions League and three in their one Carabao Cup tie.

Instead of replacing Carrick another option under consideration is additional coaching support to assist the current team.

Bayern Munich coach Aaron Danks, who worked with Carrick at Middlesbrough and was touted as a potential appointment in the summer, is one option.

Manchester United co-chair Avram Glazer (left) with minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe at the 2025 Europa League final

If Ratcliffe was to decide otherwise, it would raise serious questions over the future of Berrada and Wilcox.

How could they work with Carrick again in that scenario?

The pair have been the subject of intense and frequent fan discontent. But sources are adamant that Ratcliffe still retains faith in the pair, even though United are heading towards sacking a manager in mid-season for the third successive year, having backed them in the summer and spend millions on new players.

Ratcliffe is a ruthless operator, and has clear opinions of his own. He also has form, spending £5m hiring Dan Ashworth as sporting director from Newcastle in 2024, then waiting for the 55-year-old to spend five months on gardening leave before he could start work.

Five months later, Ashworth was sacked due to a divergence of opinion over who should replace Ten Hag. Ashworth felt someone with Premier League experience was a better fit for United's squad. Ratcliffe wanted a more modern alternative. Berrada suggested Amorim. Wilcox, after initial reservations, also got on board. Amorim was dismissed after 14 months.

The other unknown element is the Glazer family. They will need to sign off any decision.

At the time of the Ratcliffe purchase, United confirmed the club's 'board' had handed over responsibility for the football side. But United's articles of association state that responsibilities delegated by directors can also be "revoked or altered".

Crucially, of the 12 current directors, six are members of the Glazer family, including co-chairs Joel and Avi Glazer. United's rules state that if required, the chairman of any meeting will have a second and casting vote.

Although there have been media reports of Glazer dissatisfaction at United's current plight, there has been no public statement on the matter.

It may seem strange, but the reality is, as with any employee, Carrick will continue to do his job until told otherwise - and so far, there has been no conversation to that effect.

Although most of his squad, and a significant number of academy players, are on international duty, a core remains at home.

This includes Mason Mount, Joshua Zirkzee and Matthijs de Ligt. Harry Maguire, who suffered a back spasm against Villa, is also there, as are other injured players, including Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford.

Carrick gave his players a day off on Monday but scheduled training days for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. After that, they are not due to report back until 17 November, by which time the international contingent should start to return and begin preparations for the trip to Liverpool on 22 November.

"Obviously some of the boys will be flying off around the world and different things, and the group will be split for 10 days or so, but as a normal international week is, we'll have some training and we'll have one or two days off," Carrick said after the Villa game. "Not too much. But we'll train and get ready for the next game."

Mauricio Pochettino was appointed USA boss in September 2024

If the discussions go as anticipated, replacing Carrick will be a key element.

Mauricio Pochettino has emerged as a leading contender and is known to be keen on the job.

United spoke to the former Tottenham, PSG and Chelsea boss about their managerial position on three different occasions - first of all when Jose Mourinho was sacked in 2018, then in 2022 when the club decided on Ten Hag instead and then again when the Dutchman was sacked.

The obvious problem is that Pochettino currently has a job as head coach of the United States. He renewed his contract in August and has a two-legged Concacaf Nations League quarter-final against Haiti over the next week. The Argentine, 54, is due to speak to the media on Friday and has a $10m (£7.5m) release clause.

Former Newcastle boss Eddie Howe is out of work and available. BBC Sport has reported the compensation due to his old club if Manchester United appointed thr 48-year-old now would be £3m. But it reduces as the season goes on and would be nothing in the summer.

Italian Antonio Conte is also thought to be keen and the 57-year-old has Premier League title-winning experience at Chelsea and more recently won Serie A with Napoli last season, before leaving the club.

Julian Nagelsmann stood down as Germany boss in the wake of their last-32 exit at the World Cup exit at the World Cup but the German, 39, won the Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich in 2022-23.

Kieran McKenna was part of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's coaching team at Manchester United and left Ipswich after four-and-a-half years this summer. However, it is felt more likely United would want a candidate with greater experience than the 40-year-old Northern Irishman.

Where does this all leave Carrick? In a unenviable position of carrying on as if it was business as usual when the reality is anything but.

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