Gary Neville tells Man United to ‘pursue another manager right NOW’ and suggests hiring old team-mate Michael Carrick is a ‘risk’ despite his almost-faultless start

Gary Neville has urged Manchester United to not appoint Michael Carrick as their long-term manager, insisting that they should go for the best available candidate instead.

Carrick has been in the role as Red Devils head coach since January, when Ruben Amorim was sacked, with his contract expiring at the end of the season.

Since his arrival in the Old Trafford dugout, United have won five of their six Premier League matches and drawing the other to see them propel up the table to fourth – and just three points behind Aston Villa in third.

Their fine run of form included back-to-back wins against Manchester City and Arsenal – with both rivals vying for the title.

United’s resurgence has led to many calling for Carrick to remain in the role beyond the end of the season but his former team-mate Neville disagrees, citing that the potential with the best cv should get it instead.

‘I think Manchester United have to pursue another manager right now around the fact of you don’t know how the results are going to go,’ he told Sky Sports Monday Night Football show ahead of United’s 1-0 win at Everton.

‘Little things like [Thomas] Tuchel re-signing with England does start to take away the options for Manchester United and they don’t harm Michael’s chances of getting the job. If he gets United into the Champions League there will be a lot of fever around that he should be appointed.

‘I’m not against him being appointed, I love him to bits and think that he’s done an incredible job so far. I just feel that Manchester United should go for the best class of manager available.

‘They’ve had young and inexperienced managers in the last two picks which have not quite worked. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has come in before as an ex-player who did a very good job for a couple of years but that didn’t work in the end. So I just feel removing as much risk as possible is the right option.

‘But people who know me will know that’s not personal against Michael because I love him to bits. He’s a great lad, a great player and someone who’s doing a very good job as a coach now.’