Fabrizio Romano has revealed Manchester United’s stance on appointing Antonio Conte as the manager to replace Michael Carrick at Old Trafford.

Carrick is expected to be sacked by Man Utd this week, with the club’s director of football, Jason Wilcox, co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and CEO Omar Berrada set to make the final call on Wednesday.

Man Utd are in the Premier League relegation zone at the moment, and the club’s bosses have lost faith in Carrick.

TEAMtalk’s transfer insider, Graeme Bailey, has reported that Mauricio Pochettino is now one of the leading candidates to replace Carrick as Man Utd manager.

Eddie Howe, too, is a manager that Man Utd co-owners INEOS are considering for the role.

Conte has long been on Man Utd’s radar as a potential replacement for Carrick, too.

Graeme Bailey, reported on October 15 that Conte himself is ready to take charge of Man Utd.

On November 10, it emerged that Conte is in talks with Tottenham.

Journalist Santi Aouna posted on X at 6:29pm on November 10: “Super-agent Pini Zahavi is representing Antonio Conte in talks over the Manchester United job, with the 57-year-old Italian among the candidates for the role.

“Despite some doubts within the club at the moment, Conte remains on the shortlist alongside Mauricio Pochettino.

“Barring any unexpected developments, Michael Carrick is expected to leave his role in the coming days.”

Transfer guru Romano, though, has said that Man Utd have gone cold on Conte, stating that the Red Devils think that the former Chelsea manager is too brutal.

Man Utd ‘scared’ to appoint Antonio Conte

Romano said on his YouTube channel: “Antonio Conte, it’s a name that has gone completely cold in the last two, three weeks.

“At the moment, there is a feeling in the industry and also those close to managers in general that maybe Utd could be kind of scared of Antonio Conte because he’s a manager that sometimes when it’s time to say things to the directors, to the owners and to people at the club, he’s not scared at all.

“He just goes and says the reality, and so Conte is brutal.

“He is a serial winner, but he’s brutal.”