Michael Carrick on Manchester United's Transfer Needs

Michael Carrick knows the noise around Manchester United will not fade any time soon. He is about to walk into his first full Premier League season as manager at Old Trafford, and the scrutiny has already started with a familiar question: have United done enough in the transfer market?

He insists the work is only halfway done.

Carrick pushes for more

United have spent £83m so far, bringing in Andrey Santos from Chelsea and Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa, while Karl Darlow has arrived on a free as back-up goalkeeper. Carrick is happy with that business. Just not satisfied.

"We want more, we need more, we keep looking for how we can do that," he said.

The squad still carries obvious gaps. Left-back remains a concern. Central midfield still needs reinforcing, especially with a Champions League campaign looming after a two-year absence. The club have already missed out on key targets such as Elliot Anderson and Matheus Fernandes, unwilling to match rival offers, and are currently spending less than newly promoted Ipswich and Coventry.

That contrast jars with the size of the club Carrick represents. He understands both sides: the need to avoid repeating expensive mistakes of the past and the demand to compete at the very top.

"Money's money, I get that," he said. "We feel like we have to be pushing for everything we're involved in, while being realistic of what the recent history's looked like over a period of time.

"For now, we've got to make the most of it, but we've got to push every boundary we can to be able to win again, basically. That's the challenge."

A manager at ease in the storm

Away from the transfer tension, Carrick allowed himself a rare personal smile. On Thursday, his daughter received the A-level grades she was hoping for. He cut a relaxed figure, helped by a pre-season that has stayed relatively close to home.

United have avoided the draining, long-haul tours that have become routine. Instead, they have taken a more compact route through Scandinavia, facing Wrexham, Rosenborg, Atletico Madrid and Paris St-Germain, before a meeting with Leeds in Dublin.

"I love the position I'm in," Carrick said. "There's the football side; the tactical, the training, putting the team together. Then there's the other side; being the face of it, leading it, trying to set the right messages, the right behaviours and right tone for what we want to look like as a football club.

"I never take anything that this position and this football club brings for granted."

He knows what that role entails: constant questions, constant pressure and, right now, constant speculation around some of his biggest names.

Rashford questions linger

Carrick had several chances to publicly guarantee Marcus Rashford would still be a United player when the transfer window closes on 1 September. He declined each one.

"He's our player," was his repeated response.

The line was deliberate. So was the insistence that Rashford is not the only member of the squad he has previously coached, managed or played alongside, despite that connection being highlighted as a strength in the forward’s return.

"It is not a unique situation at all and [we] treat him exactly like any other player," Carrick said.

Plenty of supporters are not quite so even-handed. Many have not forgiven Rashford for what they see as a coolness towards United during his loan spells at Aston Villa and Barcelona, where most expected him to be playing again this season. Those close to him accept there is a stark difference between the disinterested figure he became under Ruben Amorim and the fully motivated forward widely regarded as the best player to emerge from United’s academy since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.

Ironically, Rashford’s first appearance back in United colours is likely to come against Amorim’s AC Milan in Wroclaw, Poland, on Saturday.

Carrick believes the 28-year-old still has plenty to give.

"Football's got different directions," he said. "You've got to manage through the states to have a career for 10 or 15 years. It's never going to be smooth sailing.

"But you've got to keep moving forward. If you keep looking back too much, it doesn't do anyone any favours.

"It's been good to have Marcus around this week. He's our player. He's a good player, and he gives us something a little bit different."

Mainoo back in the fold

Rashford was not the only England international to rejoin the group on Sunday evening. Kobbie Mainoo is back as well, and for Carrick it almost feels like starting again.

When Carrick replaced Amorim in January, after Darren Fletcher’s brief two-game spell as interim, he inherited a midfielder of obvious talent whose confidence had been badly dented by a lack of trust. Mainoo was virtually ignored by Amorim for long stretches, though he did at least make a Premier League substitute appearance under him last season.

He did not get that chance with England. Thomas Tuchel did not use him once at the World Cup, even as calls grew for a midfielder who could keep the ball under pressure in the latter stages of the tournament.

Carrick knows exactly how that feels. Fabio Capello overlooked him in similar fashion at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

He made sure Mainoo did not go through the experience in silence.

"I spoke to him all the way through the World Cup, not loads, but little bits," Carrick said. "It's challenging. From the outside we all see the glitz, the glamour and all the positive sides of football.

"But players are human beings. We all have our ups and downs. It's important we support each other.

"It was a good experience for Kobbie. It's a World Cup and that is a big step.

"He's still such a young man and he's achieved so much, so quickly. To be at the stage he's at is an achievement."

Carrick, then, goes into his first full season juggling it all: a thin squad that still needs work, a star forward under the microscope, a gifted youngster rebuilding after an international setback. The privilege is clear. So is the burden. The only question now is whether the club will match his determination to "push every boundary" before the window closes.