{"id":20446,"date":"2026-01-15T10:23:43","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T10:23:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/15\/michael-carrick-adds-two-players-to-manchester-united-squad-for-man-city-derby-soccer-sports\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T10:23:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T10:23:43","slug":"michael-carrick-adds-two-players-to-manchester-united-squad-for-man-city-derby-soccer-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/15\/michael-carrick-adds-two-players-to-manchester-united-squad-for-man-city-derby-soccer-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Carrick adds two players to Manchester United squad for Man City derby | Soccer | Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"photo changeSpace\">\n<p class=\"withoutCaption\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/67\/590x\/secondary\/6674931.jpg?r=1768467017692\" alt=\"MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JANUARY 14: (EXCLUSIVE) Manchester United's Amad Brian Mbeumo in action during his first-team trappings\" title=\"MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JANUARY 14: (EXCLUSIVE) Manchester United's Amad Brian Mbeumo in action during his first-team trappings\" width=\"590\" height=\"355\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"newsCaption\">Amad and Brian Mbemo return to Manchester United training <span class=\"caption\">(Image: Getty Images)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Manchester United&#8217;s injury woes are starting to subside, making it the perfect time for Michael Carrick to prepare for his first match as caretaker manager in Saturday&#8217;s Manchester derby at Old Trafford. The Red Devils have struggled to gain ground against local neighbors Manchester City in recent years, winning just one of their last five games at home. This latest installment in the storied rivalry comes amid significant changes to United&#8217;s staff.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Former president Ruben Amorim was fired from his position earlier this month. On Tuesday, just four days before they face Josep Guardiola&#8217;s side, an agreement was reached for former United midfielder Carrick to return as caretaker manager until the end of the 2025-26 season. &#8220;It&#8217;s an honor to take on the responsibility of leading Manchester United,&#8221; the former England international declared after his return.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"whatsapp-group \">        Join us on WhatsApp for the latest Man United news<\/p>\n<p class=\"wapp-inf\">Our community members may receive special offers, promotions, and advertising from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. Read our privacy policy<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>&#8220;I know what it takes to be successful here. My focus now is to help our players reach the standards we expect at this great club and I know this team is more than capable.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>&#8220;I have already worked with some of the players and have of course continued to follow the team closely in recent years. I have full faith in their talent, dedication and ability to succeed here. There is still a lot to compete for this season. We are ready to bring everyone together and deliver a performance worthy of the loyal support of our fans.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Carrick will be aiming to make a good start to his spell at Old Trafford as he bids to qualify for the Champions League. He is keen on the return of African forwards Amadou and Brian Mbeumo, who are expected to strengthen the squad ahead of the game against City.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Both players have been called up for international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations and have been sidelined since mid-December. Amad was part of the defending champion Ivory Coast team, while Mbeumo played for Cameroon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"photo changeSpace\">\n<p class=\"withoutCaption\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/67\/590x\/secondary\/6674934.jpg?r=1768467017704\" alt=\"Ivory Coast's Amad Diallo and Cameroon's Brian Marceau Mbeumo Tetsdon watch the AFCON Group F match against Ivory\" title=\"Ivory Coast's Amad Diallo and Cameroon's Brian Marceau Mbeumo Tetsdon watch the AFCON Group F match against Ivory\" width=\"590\" height=\"420\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"newsCaption\">Amad Diallo and Brian Mbeumo face off at AFCON <span class=\"caption\">(Image: Getty Images)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>But both teams were eliminated in the quarter-finals last weekend, with Ivory Coast losing to Egypt and Cameroon losing to hosts Morocco, who also featured United&#8217;s Nousser Mazraoui.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Despite this personal disappointment, this means both players can refocus on their club duties ahead of the 2025\/26 season, returning to a United squad that has undergone a significant transformation under Carrick&#8217;s leadership. This could result in two returning players competing for the starting spot, and two have already returned to practice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Carrick is expected to depart from Amorim&#8217;s preferred 3-4-3 formation and instead opt for a back four. During his time at Middlesbrough, Carrick usually deployed his team in a 4-2-3-1 formation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>In a 3-4-3, both players could start, with Mbeumo leading the attack and Amado overlapping but given more defensive duties. Before leaving for AFCON, the former made 17 appearances for United, scoring seven goals and providing one assist, while the latter had two goals and two assists.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>However, in AFCON, it was Amad who proved to be more productive. In an attacking role, the 23-year-old had three goals and one assist in five games, while Mbemo had one assist in the same number of games.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Carrick therefore has an important decision to make on who will start on the right wing in this weekend&#8217;s match between United and City.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/sport\/football\/2158013\/michael-carrick-man-utd-man-city-amad-bryan-mbeumo\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amad and Brian Mbemo return to Manchester United training (Image: Getty Images) Manchester United&#8217;s injury woes are starting to subside, making it the perfect time for Michael Carrick to prepare for his first match as caretaker manager in Saturday&#8217;s Manchester derby at Old Trafford. The Red Devils have struggled to gain ground against local neighbors<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-20446","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-matches"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Michael Carrick adds two players to Manchester United squad for Man City derby | Soccer | Sports - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/15\/michael-carrick-adds-two-players-to-manchester-united-squad-for-man-city-derby-soccer-sports\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Michael Carrick adds two players to Manchester United squad for Man City derby | Soccer | Sports - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Amad and Brian Mbemo return to Manchester United training (Image: Getty Images) Manchester United&#8217;s injury woes are starting to subside, making it the perfect time for Michael Carrick to prepare for his first match as caretaker manager in Saturday&#8217;s Manchester derby at Old Trafford. 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