Power struggle at Manchester United takes a bizarre twist after Carrick's departure

The search for a new head coach has painfully exposed the imbalance of power at the top of Manchester United.

After the decision to sack Michael Carrick was finally made on Thursday, minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the American Glazer family reportedly clashed behind the scenes over his successor, according to the Daily Mail. While the club's sporting leadership was fully committed to appointing Eddie Howe, the majority shareholders pushed through their preferred candidate, Mauricio Pochettino.

Carrick's departure had been on the cards for several days and became inevitable amid the team's alarming slide down the table. Although the former midfielder guided United to third place as interim manager last season and subsequently secured a two-year contract, the club now finds itself in serious danger of relegation after ten rounds of matches.

The numbers make for grim reading. With just one win, five draws and four defeats, alongside a goal difference of -5, Manchester United sit in a disappointing 18th place with eight points. Their recent 4-4 draw against Aston Villa once again highlighted the extent of the problems at Old Trafford.

In an attempt to turn things around, chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox, backed by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, put forward 48-year-old Eddie Howe as their ideal candidate.

The Englishman left Newcastle United last summer after more than four years in charge and was therefore available immediately without a compensation fee. However, according to the Daily Mail, the proposal met with a firm veto from the United States. During a high-level meeting with Ratcliffe in Monaco on Wednesday, it became clear that the club's football leadership would have to back down.

The Mail outlined how the internal power struggle over Mauricio Pochettino's appointment unfolded: “The Glazers said 'no' and insisted that Pochettino get the keys, and Ratcliffe and his men acquiesced.”

According to sources in England, Avram Glazer approved the Argentine's appointment by telephone from the United States on Wednesday, although the club itself denies that the decision was directly imposed by the owning family.

For Berrada and Wilcox, who were already facing criticism over last summer's transfer business after managing to strengthen only the midfield, the turn of events represents a significant blow.

The verdict has consequently been damning: "If Berrada and Wilcox survive this new humiliation, they will both be virtually without relevance."

The clash over the managerial appointment exposes the difficult position Manchester United have found themselves in since Sir Jim Ratcliffe bought into the club through INEOS in 2023.

Although INEOS nominally controls the day-to-day running of the football operation, the chemical group holds just 28.95% of the voting rights and slightly less than 30% of the shares.

The Glazer family, which has controlled the club since 2005, retains a 67.91% majority of the voting rights and therefore has the final say on major decisions.

Many people look at Sir Jim Ratcliffe and think: ‘He will sort it out.’ However, Manchester United is not his personal plaything, as many people think.

That limited room for manoeuvre explains why the British billionaire remains dependent on the American majority shareholders, both when appointing a new manager and when considering major capital injections.

Ratcliffe cannot decide on his own to pump hundreds of millions more into the club.

Furthermore, the decision to appoint Mauricio Pochettino rather than the available Eddie Howe comes with a significant financial cost.

The Argentine, who was also considered for the job in 2018 and 2022 before United opted for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag respectively, has been head coach of the United States since September 2024. Last August, he extended his contract with the US Soccer Federation until 2030, although the Glazers maintain close ties with billionaire Ken Griffin, who helped finance that agreement.

To prise Pochettino away from the US Soccer Federation, Manchester United will have to dig deep. Once personal terms have been agreed, a $10 million (approximately £7 million) buyout clause must be activated. Other English sources put the figure at £7.4 million, with a further £1.5 million potentially required to release his coaching staff.

Given his ongoing international commitments with the United States, the man set to succeed Carrick and Ruben Amorim, who was dismissed in January earlier this year, is not expected to arrive at the Carrington training complex until next Thursday at the earliest.

The managerial turmoil and costly change of direction come at an especially precarious time for Manchester United financially.

Although the club recorded a record turnover of €811.8 million last season, it posted a loss of €51.5 million after missing out on European football. Net debt has since climbed to €744.8 million.

On top of that, United have €449.3 million in outstanding transfer fees, of which €261.6 million must be paid within the next year. That figure does not include a further €147.1 million in potential bonuses.

Should Pochettino fail to save the club from relegation, the financial consequences could be devastating. Dropping into the Championship would mean losing the vast majority of the club's £233.6 million in domestic television revenue, leaving United with only a £60 million parachute payment in the first year.

Kit manufacturer Adidas, which currently pays €110 million per year under a ten-year agreement worth at least €1.1 billion, also has a contractual right to halve its annual contribution in the event of relegation or terminate the deal entirely with one season's notice.

Despite having a total squad value of €995.7 million, making them fifth in the Premier League's Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) rankings behind Manchester City (€1.471 billion), according to FootballTransfers data, United are seeing that value erode rapidly amid their sporting crisis.

For example, Matthijs de Ligt's Estimated Transfer Value has fallen from €45 million, the fee United paid to sign him, to €26.9 million. Meanwhile, the contracts of several key players, including Bruno Fernandes, Luke Shaw and Lisandro Martinez, are also approaching expiry.

Pochettino is, therefore, an appointment that Man Utd simply have to get right.