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Carrick pipped Solskjaer to the managerial vacancy at the Old Trafford club and believes he can count on his friend for advice
Richard Jolly Senior Football Correspondent Saturday 24 January 2026 22:30 GMT- Bookmark
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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (left) and Michael Carrick are good friends and former colleagues (Getty Images)
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Michael Carrick has revealed that he has been in touch with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer since pipping him to the Manchester United job and said his predecessor has been supportive of him.
United spoke to Solskjaer about the prospect of bringing him back to Old Trafford as head coach after Ruben Amorim’s sacking before opting for his former teammate Carrick instead.
The Englishman had also been on Solskjaer’s backroom staff during his three-year reign as first United’s caretaker and then full-time manager and the pair have remained friends.
And Carrick said the Norwegian was delighted with his Manchester derby victory while he believes he can always pick Solskjaer’s brains if he wants to.
“I spoke to him,” Carrick said. “We’re close, we've been through a lot together, so he's been fully supportive, as you'd expect. He's some man and I respect him an awful lot, so yeah, he wished us all the best and he was happy that we got the right result.”
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Carrick believes he can turn to Solskjaer to advice, though he said he does not always ask.
“I think friendships, you have conversations, I've got a lot of friends in places that I can kind of pick on if I need to be,” he added. “I'm not one that bothers a lot of people. But he's certainly there if ever I need him.”
United visit Arsenal on Saturday and last won there under Solskjaer’s management, but Carrick does not believe that will have a huge influence.
He explained: “Games from three or four years ago, it's done, it's in the past. So as much as the experience kind of kind of helps you in certain moments, I think it totally different game on Sunday and two teams going into it, looking forward to it in good shape.”
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