Michael Carrick is in negotiations to become Manchester United’s permanent manager
Maxi Araujo is a key target for Manchester United(Image: Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images)
Michael Carrick could be granted the ideal beginning to his permanent spell at Manchester United should the club finalise the £69million signing of Sporting CP’s Maxi Araujo.
The former club captain is currently in talks to stay on as manager at Old Trafford, with a two-year contract expected to be confirmed in the coming days. What Carrick will need this summer is full support from the United hierarchy, with last year’s recruits having justified their arrivals throughout the season.
Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko have delivered in attack, while Senne Lammens has also shown his impressive capabilities in goal. The United board can maintain this positive momentum in the transfer market by landing a long-term successor to the experienced Luke Shaw.
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The veteran defender opened the scoring in a 3-2 victory over Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon and is anticipated to remain an important member of the squad next season – even if he isn’t a guaranteed starter in every fixture. Araujo could be the player to inherit the left-back position at United.
Araujo is one of United’s summer targets(Image: Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images)
According to reports in Portugal, the club expressed interest in the 26-year-old earlier in May and have been in touch with his agents over a possible transfer. The Sporting CP star has flourished in Liga Portugal since joining the club two years ago, scoring 11 goals and registering 13 assists in 91 appearances.
Other clubs are reportedly interested in Araujo, including Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Juventus and Atletico Madrid. Araujo has previously indicated his ambition to feature in the Premier League in future, though specifically for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
The full-back revealed his aspiration to work under Guardiola following Sporting’s 4-1 victory over City in the Champions League, with current Arsenal forward Viktor Gyokeres scoring a hat-trick for the Portuguese outfit in 2024.
When questioned about potentially joining the Spaniard’s side in future, Araujo said: “I hope so, I hope so… I asked him for a photo, we talked for a few minutes and he congratulated me. I’m very happy about that. We talked about the game, nothing more.”
Carrick will expect to be backed by the club’s hierarchy(Image: Nigel French/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
Despite this ambition to represent United’s rivals, Araujo shares another connection to the club through former manager Ruben Amorim. The duo worked together during Amorim’s final months before his switch to Manchester, with the player offering considerable praise for his previous boss.
Reflecting on his relationship with the 41-year-old, Araujo said: “For me too, because at all times, in the short time I worked with him, it was incredible, I had an incredible vibe with him.
“He was always in a good mood. He’s a great coach and I loved working with him. Because both those who played and those who didn’t were all focused on the same goal. And I think that, sometimes, isn’t something so easy to achieve in big teams. Things don’t always happen that way.”
This season, the 26-year-old has featured 45 times for Sporting, netting seven goals and providing five assists. The £69m release clause inserted by his current club could prove problematic for United, though Carrick anticipates support from the hierarchy this summer and moving forward to deliver greater success at Old Trafford.
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