Michael Carrick, who has been playing at the Theatre of Dreams since 2006 after an £18.6million move from Spurs, is yet to sign a new contract with Manchester United and is currently available on a free transfer.
Carrick "hopeful" of new deal at Manchester United
The midfielder said he is "hopeful, but there is no news yet" on a negotiation of his deal, which runs out at the end of June. Speaking at the Monaco Grand Prix, Carrick said "we’ll have to wait and see next week. I haven’t got a timetable on it.”
United's FA Cup win last Saturday was Michael Carrick’s last game in a red shirt as it stands. It was his first FA Cup victory with United, adding to his impressive list of five Premier League titles, five Community shields, one League Cup, one FIFA Club World Cup and one UEFA Champions League.
The Newcastle-born midfielder was full of praise for incoming United manager Jose Mourinho, who was announced as Louis van Gaal's successor on Friday morning. “Mourinho’s record speaks for itself”, he said before expressing sympathy for ex-manager Louis van Gaal – “I have to say it’s sad to see anyone lose their job, but good times are ahead”.
What do the statistics show?
After 10 years at the club, and being somewhat under-appreciated by fans and pundits, people are still questioning Carrick’s ability to perform at the highest level.
Statistics (via Squawka) support the suggestion Carrick’s performances are starting to falter. This season he averaged a pass accuracy percentage of 86%, with the previous two season’s both 89% and 90%.
Unfortunately for Carrick, statistics also support the idea that the defensive side of his game is being hampered by the yard of pace he has lost. During the 2013/2014 season, the holding-midfielder made on average five defensive actions a game and won 55% of his duels; In the 2014/2015 season this decreased to four defensive actions per game and 52% of his duels were won. As for his last season, these statistics continued to drop, with Carrick only averaging three defensive actions per game and winning 49% of his duels.
Carrick joins captain Wayne Rooney on an elite list of players to win all domestic trophies available at club level, and his experience would be invaluable for youngsters such as Marcus Rashford, Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, trying to break into the squad.