Carrick Confirms No Exits as Manchester United Eyes Late Transfer Moves

Manchester United are braced for a frantic finish to the summer transfer window, but Michael Carrick is drawing a firm line on one thing: he does not expect anyone to leave.

With 10 days left for Premier League clubs to trade, United are working on a third midfield addition and looking to bolster the left-back position. Outgoings at senior level, though, have barely flickered.

Carrick was clear when asked if any of his players had told him they wanted out.

“Not to me, no,” he replied. Pressed on whether he anticipated the squad staying intact until at least January, he added: “Yeah, at least. I don't know what's going to come out, you know. I don't know what's going to come at us from elsewhere.

“We can control what we can control. I'm really happy with the squad we've got so far, and if not, we want to improve it.”

That stance comes at the end of a window that promised more upheaval than it has delivered.

Quiet exits, noisy rumours

Manuel Ugarte looked set to be one of the headline departures before a serious knee injury at the World Cup halted any move. Barcelona then chose not to trigger their £26 million option on Marcus Rashford, leaving United without a major sale there either. In goal, they had to accept another season-long loan for Andre Onana when a permanent exit had been the preferred solution.

Joshua Zirkzee remains the one name with genuine late-window intrigue. The Dutch forward pushed to leave in January in search of regular starts, only to be denied a move. The fallout was costly: he missed out on the Netherlands’ World Cup squad.

Interest from Italy has not gone away and could yet spark movement in the final days. For now, though, Carrick insists no one has knocked on his door to force the issue.

Transfers without the drama

United have already brought in Karl Darlow, Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans, and more business is on the agenda. Carrick, though, has refused to turn transfer tension into a public spectacle.

The United boss spoke earlier this month about the need to “keep pushing” in the market, but he has stayed well away from the kind of open frustration that once dominated the club’s pre-seasons.

Jose Mourinho famously admitted he was “not happy” with United’s transfer work during their 2018 tour of the United States. His relationship with then-chief executive Ed Woodward deteriorated in plain sight that summer. Carrick watched it all from close quarters as a member of Mourinho’s staff.

Asked whether he had taken lessons from that turbulent period, Carrick pointed instead to the calm and clarity of this year’s preparations.

“I've been really happy with the structure [of pre-season],” he said. “It would have been nice to have more players back early, but at the same time, it was nice to see some of the boys go far in the World Cup as well.

“But yeah, certainly as a structure and as a flow and how the boys have come back, how they've trained, what the group looks like. I think we can be happy with a lot of that.”

Foundation laid, test to come

Carrick knows the real verdict will not be delivered in August boardrooms but across autumn and winter weekends.

“We all know pre-season is one thing, and once the start of the season gets going, it's a whole different story,” he said. “So I think it just gives you the chance for the foundation to be able to move, and we've got to take big steps as the season goes on to move forward.”

United will try to add at least one more midfielder and a left-back before the window closes. The manager, though, expects to chase those upgrades with the same core group he has now.

No public feuds. No transfer stand-offs. Just a squad Carrick believes is ready to grow — and a club about to discover whether quiet exits and targeted signings are enough to keep pace at the top.