Manchester United have been urged to hire Aston Villa manager Unai Emery as their replacement for the struggling Michael Carrick.

The Red Devils are experiencing an awful start to the season, with the team’s form going drastically downhill since they hired Carrick permanently, following his successful initial stint as interim manager last term.

Discussing the situation at Old Trafford, former Chelsea midfielder Mikel John Obi has advised them to go for Emery as their priority over other names being linked, such as Eddie Howe and Julian Nagelsmann.

Emery has done a tremendous job at Villa, though he previously struggled to cope with the pressure of managing Arsenal when they appointed him shortly after Arsene Wenger’s exit.

Mikel feels Emery has since shown how good he can be at this level, and that he believes Man Utd now need to give him the keys.

Manchester United urged to hire Unai Emery

Asked if Howe or Nagelsmann would be his number one choice for United, Obi Mikel said on his podcast: ‘Neither. I would go for Unai Emery. I don’t think he leaves [Aston Villa] but listen, if you give him the f***ing keys.

“If you give him an open chequebook and say: “Listen, Unai, we don’t want to go down this route anymore, we’re tired, the fans are sick and tired of what’s happening at the football club. We want to press the reset button and believe you are the man.”