Man Utd are 'striving to win league as soon as possible' says Carrick

Michael Carrick says Manchester United are "striving" to win the league "as soon as possible".

United head to the south coast on the final day of the Premier League season with the focus now on building their fine form over the past few months.

After a rocky first half of the season under Ruben Amorim, things have picked up in terms of morale and results since the club turned to their former midfielder for the remainder of the campaign.

Carrick’s success led United to decide to keep him as head coach, with a two-year deal belatedly announced two days before the season finale at Brighton, which they head into with third spot guaranteed.

The club on Saturday followed up news of Carrick’s permanent appointment by revealing that his assistants Steve Holland, Jonathan Woodgate, Jonny Evans, Travis Binnion and Craig Mawson have also agreed new deals tying them to Old Trafford until 2028.

The Red Devils want to be challenging for major honours again and have Arsenal in their sights going forward.

Targeting the Premier League, Carrick said: "As a football club of course that’s where we want to be.

"We’ve been there in the past and it doesn’t mean necessarily you’ll always be there again, but that’s certainly as a football club what we’re striving for as soon as possible really.”

Recognition of Bruno Fernandes’ stellar season continued on Saturday after the Portuguese midfielder was named Premier League player of the season.

United captain Fernandes had already been crowned the Football Writers’ Association men’s player of the year having created more chances than any other player in 2025-26.

Sunday is a European decider for Albion, whose possibilities range from reaching the Champions League to missing out on continental football entirely, and the head coach says they will not take things lightly.

“We’re certainly conscious of the situation of the game and what’s at stake,” Carrick said. “I think we’ve certainly got a responsibility for that.

“We’ve managed to put ourselves in a position where we kind of are the position that we are in the league and I’ve said we wanted to finish strong for ourselves as much as anything.

“We’re approaching the game as we would any other game. There’s a lot to play for, for Brighton, for Bournemouth, for all the other clubs surrounding that, so we’re well aware of that.”

United secured their main objective early having wrapped up Champions League qualification with three matches to spare, although Carrick stressed it was important not to over-celebrate that feat.