Antonio Conte replacing Michael Carrick as Manchester United boss could be a ‘disaster’ if the players fail to work hard under the Italian, according to Ashley Young.

Conte, Fabian Hurzeler, Eddie Howe and Julian Nagelsmann have all been linked with the Man Utd job amid growing pressure on Michael Carrick. United sit 13th in the Premier League table after winning just one of their seven matches so far, while the Red Devils were also dumped out of the League Cup by Brighton.

Reports in the Italian press have claimed talks have been held between Conte and United officials, though sources in England insist no contact has been held with any potential replacements for Carrick.

Conte has done little to squash speculation about a potential move to Old Trafford. Earlier this month, the 57-year-old revealed he wants to join a major club and help them ‘shine once more’.

Former United star Young played under Conte at Inter Milan. On The Overlap Daily, presenter Kelly Cates asked if Conte is ‘being linked with the job or is linking himself’.

Young replied: “I’d go with the second one. I think linking himself to the job, saying that big clubs, he wants to get the history back and whatnot.”

Young continued: “I’ve worked underneath him at Milan. He’s crazy, by the way. Like he is crazy.

“He’s a bit like Diego Simeone on the sidelines. Like you hear him non-stop.

“Meetings were long. When I say long, I’m talking, if we lost the game, we could go in and do the meeting after the game and it stops literally everything and you could be there for three, four hours.”

Young added: “I think that’s one of the reasons why he doesn’t last long at places because not just the players, he tries to test mentally, but the board as well and the owners.

“There has been a lot of talk about Man United’s running stats. If they’re not going to run and Antonio Conte goes in there, it’s going to be a disaster.”

Antonio Conte move could be big risk

Conte has won league titles with Chelsea, Napoli, Inter and Juventus during a successful managerial career.

However, as Young points out, he has a history of falling out with owners over transfers and spending.

If Conte did replace Carrick, then his spell could share similarities with Jose Mourinho.

Conte would likely improve United in the short term and make them competitive towards the top of the Premier League table, only for things to explode two or three seasons in.

Carrick has worked hard to steady the ship following Ruben Amorim’s sacking, and appointing Conte could take United back to square one.