Michael Carrick is on the brink at Manchester United, and the man United’s director of football wants to replace him with is already a free agent. Eddie Howe is in talks about taking over at Old Trafford, and because he walked away from Newcastle in the summer, his former club would not be owed a penny.

Jason Wilcox, United’s director of football, is leading the push. Representatives for Howe were reported to be meeting United officials in London on Monday, with reporter Indy Kaila saying the hold-up is the structure of the contract, not the fee.

Howe wants a deal without clauses. United want Champions League-related triggers written in.

Carrick’s position described as untenable

A 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth on Sunday stretched Carrick’s winless run to eight matches and left United 14th in the Premier League. Sky Sports reports that club insiders expect the hierarchy to accelerate his departure.

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Jamie Carragher went further on the broadcast, telling Sky’s panel that United should move immediately.

“Manchester United need to make that change tonight,” Carragher said.

Why the compensation bill vanished

Three months ago, prising Howe from Newcastle would have cost United a sum running well into eight figures. He was earning roughly £6m a year and had at least three years left on his contract. His resignation on July 30 removed that bill from the table.

Sky Sports summed up the state of play on Monday.

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“Both are available to start quickly, and neither would require any compensation to be paid,” the broadcaster said of Howe and Julian Nagelsmann, the other frontrunner.

For context, Aston Villa would reportedly demand around £20m to release Unai Emery, who has also been linked.

Newcastle’s own compensation question

If anything, the money flow runs the other way. Financial expert Stefan Borson told Football Insider, in comments carried by Yahoo Sports, that Newcastle were likely to have paid Howe himself a settlement when he stepped down in late July.

“They may also have decided that they needed to pay some compensation to Eddie Howe,” Borson told Football Insider. “It’s always hard to know the exact circumstances, whether he literally walked away from the job or whether there was some kind of settlement.”

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Nothing has been signed at Old Trafford. Howe’s camp is still in London, and the obstacle on the table is the clauses, not a cheque to St James’ Park.

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