Upon his appointment as interim manager, Michael Carrick said: “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honour.

“I know what it takes to succeed here; my focus is now on helping the players to reach the standards that we expect at this incredible club, which we know that this group is more than capable of producing.

“I have worked with a number of the players already and have obviously continued to watch the team closely in recent years, I have total belief in their talents, dedication and ability to be successful here.

“There is still a lot to fight for this season, we are ready to pull everyone together and give the fans the performances that their loyal support deserves.”

First, Pape Sarr jetted off to the Africa Cup of Nations with pre-tournament favourites Senegal. Then, Lucas Bergvall pulled up with a muscle complaint in the 3-2 loss at Bournemouth. Rodrigo Bentancur suffered a hamstring injury late on at the Vitality Stadium. The Uruguayan is now sidelined for the next three months.

Suddenly, Tottenham have gone from an abundance of fit central midfielders, to just two. Well, three if you consider Yves Bissouma, but Thomas Frank hasn’t this season, and neither will we. Joao Palhinha and Archie Gray are the senior options for the under-fire Spurs boss. Even then, the latter is only 19 years of age.

Confirmation of Bentancur’s absence forced Spurs into action. The north London side, as reactive as ever, suddenly entered the race for Conor Gallagher. Spurs are long-term admirers of the former Chelsea man, and they are finally landing a long-standing target. The 25-year-old looked set for a move to Aston Villa, only for their Premier League rivals to trump the Villans in the race to land the out-of-favour Atletico Madrid star, with Gallagher expected to complete his Spurs switch imminently.

Do Spurs really need a midfielder of Gallagher’s profile? Ben McAleer analyses:

Not exactly reliable sources but as a bit of fun, a couple of unreliable outlets in Spain are reporting Arsenal chasing Vinicius Jr.

The Real Madrid superstar has been unhappy at the Bernabeu, although the departure of Xabi Alonso may change things slightly, and Fichajes are reporting Arsenal’s interest, with Chelsea also said to be in the hunt.

Meanwhile, Defensa Central are going one step further and claiming the Gunners have offered winger Gabriel Martinelli in a swap deal.

They say Martinelli has been offered around Europe as Arsenal look to raise funds to improve their attack and hope for a straight swap with Vini Jr because they value Martinelli at around £87m – similar to his Brazil team-mate.

Chelsea are keen to build their midfield around Real Madrid star Federcio Valverde and have submitted a €120m (£104m) bid.

That's according to Fichajes, who claim new boss Liam Rosenior is a big fan of the Uruguayan.

Valverde is considered “indispensable” at Real Madrid but they will consider “unrealistic bids” which this alleged £104m offer may qualify as.

Bayern Munich have entered the chase to sign Marc Guehi with Florian Pettenberg of Sky Germany reporting they have made phone calls over the past few days to try and convince him to sign in the summer, having previously met his agent.

Man City are desperate to sign the Crystal Palace centre-back during this transfer window, to ease their defensive injury crisis, and as we reported at the beginning of the week, they intend to overcome any obstacles to make that happen.

Price may prove the defining factor, with talkSPORT saying that City are preparing to make an offer for Guehi but are currently unlikely to meet Palace's asking price of above £35m.

Arsenal and Liverpool are also targeting the England international upon the expiry of his contract in the summer and Guehi has been reported to prefer a move to one of those two clubs.

United, who also considered bringing back Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, looked for a continuity candidate of someone who knew the club as they aim to meet their season’s objectives of European qualification.

They decided to give themselves more time in their search for a long-term appointment and felt there would be more good candidates available in the summer, with director of football Jason Wilcox spearheading their attempts to find Amorim’s permanent successor.

But Carrick will be in charge for the next 17 games after impressing Wilcox and chief executive Omar Berrada in an interview in person last Thursday. After further talks on Monday he came to a verbal agreement to take the job.

Jurgen Klopp is in the running to be the next Real Madrid manager, if they opt to replace Alvaro Arbeloa in the summer.

Xabi Alonso left the club yesterday after less than eight months in the role, with Arbeloa put in charge for the foreseeable future.

But according to Sky Germany, Klopp, who is currently working as the head of global soccer for Red Bull, would be interested in taking the reins at the Bernabeu despite his long-term contract in his current role.

Klopp left Liverpool in 2024, saying he was “running out of energy” after landing six trophies during his time at Anfield, before taking the Red Bull role in January last year.

Conor Gallagher is on the verge of completing a £35m move to Tottenham after undergoing his medical last night, according to Sky Sports.

He is expected to sign a five-and-a-half year deal with the club, with Spurs successfully hijacking Aston Villa’s move for the Atletico Madrid midfielder.

The 25-year-old returns to the Premier League having left boyhood club Chelsea in 2024.

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