One of the men who could be influencing a decision on Carrick’s future, as well as the recruitment process in general, is Michael Sansoni, United’s director of data & AI. It’s believed he is growing in influence and has a good relationship with Ratcliffe, as per The Athletic.

It’s his first job in football, and Sansoni is tasked with crunching the numbers, specifically in relation to player and managerial recruitment. Speaking shortly after his appointment last year, Sansoni wrote on LinkedIn: “I’ve inherited a brilliant team: smart, committed, and hungry to make a difference and together we’re building a world-class data and AI function to power decision-making across football and the wider club.

“The challenge is great, but so is the opportunity. We’re only just getting started and I’ll be growing the team in the months ahead. It’s an honour to be here.”

While he might not have a lot of experience in football, Sansoni isn’t a newbie to the sports data world, having cut his teeth in Formula One. He spent 11 years working for Mercedes as the constructor’s Senior Performance Simulation Engineer.

And the task for Sansoni at United now modernise the club's data analysis system, implementing high-precision methodologies and predictive analytics. This is primarily for the signing of players, but such approaches will need to be adapted if United find themselves in need of a new manager.

Eddie Howe is one of the front-runners to replace Carrick, should it come to that. Whereas, Antonio Conte and Kieran McKenna have also been mentioned as potential replacements.

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