Michael Carrick's Support Network at Manchester United
Michael Carrick will never be short of familiar faces if he ever needs help at Manchester United. The pull of Old Trafford, and of their former midfield metronome, still runs deep through a generation of ex-team-mates.
Silvestre ready to swap touchline for boardroom
Mikael Silvestre is one of them. The former France defender, who spent nine years winning trophies under Sir Alex Ferguson, has made it clear he would happily return to United – but not in a tracksuit.
Silvestre, who ended his playing career in 2014, chose not to follow the coaching route. Instead, he moved upstairs. He has already served as director of football at Rennes, the club where he started out, and later at Romanian side CFR Cluj. That is the job title he would bring back to Manchester.
Speaking to Grosvenor Sport, Silvestre admitted he would consider a director of football role alongside Carrick, even if he doubts there is currently space for another voice.
He pointed out that Carrick already has a full coaching department and does not expect outsiders to walk in and add something extra. His interest lies firmly in the executive sphere, a path he prepared for by earning his coaching badges before deciding his future was in sports management, not on the training pitch.
Silvestre still keeps a close eye on United, more than any of his former clubs, and plans to visit in September to watch training. Old Trafford left a mark on him; nine years there will do that. The position he covets, though, is already occupied. Jason Wilcox now holds the director of football role, promoted earlier this year after Dan Ashworth’s departure.
Rooney’s “no-brainer” answer
Silvestre is not alone. Wayne Rooney, the club’s record goalscorer, has also nailed his colours to the Carrick mast.
Rooney has been out of management since his bruising spell at Plymouth Argyle in 2024 and is currently working as a pundit. Yet when asked in January if he would join Carrick at United, his response was instant.
“Of course I would. It’s a no-brainer,” he said, before stressing he was not pleading for a job. If the call came, he would answer. For Rooney, the identity of the manager is the key decision at any club – and the chance to work under a former team-mate at United would be the one role that could tempt him away from the studio.
Valencia would “go running”
Then there is Antonio Valencia, another figure who shared a dressing room with Carrick for nine years and captained United with quiet authority.
Now 40 and working for Telemundo Deportes on World Cup coverage, Valencia speaks about United with undisguised affection. The club, he says, gave him and his family so much. That bond has not faded with time or distance.
Asked if he would return, Valencia did not hesitate. He would go back in any capacity, driven purely by passion for a club he “loves a lot”. He believes United are on the right track, but if the phone rang, he would “go running”.
A powerful safety net for Carrick
Carrick does not lack for support inside Old Trafford, and structurally the key positions around him are already filled. Yet beyond the formal hierarchy, he knows there is a powerful safety net of former team-mates – men who have lived the pressure, lifted the trophies and understand the demands of the shirt.
Silvestre in the boardroom, Rooney on the grass, Valencia in any role going. United may not need them right now. The striking part is that they are all ready, waiting, and willing if that day ever comes.
