Manajer Manchester United Michael Carrick bersiap melakukan rekonstruksi skuad secara besar-besaran menjelang bursa transfer musim panas setelah berhasil membawa timnya lolos ke Liga Champions pada Minggu (24/5/2026).
Langkah perombakan ini diambil karena beberapa pemain senior, termasuk gelandang Casemiro, dipastikan akan meninggalkan Old Trafford dalam waktu dekat. Manchester United dilaporkan mengincar sejumlah nama baru untuk memperkuat tim, seperti Elliot Anderson dari Nottingham Forest, Carlos Baleba dari Brighton, dan Sandro Tonali dari Newcastle.
Carrick menegaskan bahwa momentum perpindahan pemain kali ini menjadi fase krusial bagi masa depan klub demi memangkas jarak dengan tim-tim papan atas Liga Inggris. Pihak manajemen klub pun menyadari adanya kebutuhan mendesak untuk mengubah dinamika dan keseimbangan di dalam internal tim saat ini.
"I think the beauty of the next transfer window for everybody, it's always the biggest thing in the world, and the most important transfer window of all time for every club I think," kata Carrick dilansir dari situs resmi klub.
Mantan gelandang Setan Merah itu menambahkan bahwa fokus utamanya adalah membawa Manchester United terus melangkah maju. Menurut Carrick, kepergian sejumlah pemain pilar membuat beban kerja manajemen pada periode transfer kali ini menjadi sangat nyata demi perkembangan masa depan klub.
"That's just the nature of how it's been created, to be honest. And I think, again, as a football club, you want to keep moving forward. We certainly do as a football club, want to keep moving forward. So, I think it's acknowledged we're at this stage and the dynamics and the balance of the direction we're at, where we've ended up getting to and finishing in the league. "And there's obviously work to do. I know it's quite obvious, there's certain players leaving, that there's a bit of work to do. It's not any more important, this one, than the last one, or it's what's ahead of us as a football club to try and make the most of," ujar Carrick.
Di sisi lain, kekosongan kepemimpinan yang ditinggalkan oleh Casemiro memicu perkembangan positif dari sisi karakter para pemain muda Manchester United. Carrick menilai performa lapangan serta mentalitas bertanding seluruh elemen tim menunjukkan progres yang signifikan setelah melewati berbagai tantangan musim ini.
"For sure, I've seen development, a lot of development in different ways," kata Carrick.
Progres tersebut dinilai tidak hanya muncul dari aspek teknis permainan, melainkan juga dari kedewasaan kepribadian para pemain saat menghadapi tekanan di Old Trafford. Carrick melihat tren positif dan atmosfer kemenangan belakangan ini berhasil menumbuhkan jiwa kepemimpinan di dalam diri masing-masing pemain.
"Some of it you see on the pitch, some of it's obvious it's there performance-wise or there's a technical part of it, and players are improving in that regard. "But I think I've said it before, again, sometimes it's the feeling comfortable in the best way of being here and knowing what it feels like to play here, having an element of success, having an element of a few challenges and you come through it and you understand what it takes to get through it. "I think that as much as anything and then you can grow and your character and your personality comes out even more. I've seen that from some of the younger players and, actually, not just the younger players, you can see everyone that little bit more and growing when you're getting good results and good performances. So, I think leadership's different from everyone. I think there's some leader examples, some show it a little bit more vocally, but you can definitely see each and every player grow when you're moving in the right direction, for sure, yeah," tutur Carrick.
Manchester United dijadwalkan akan melakoni pertandingan terakhir mereka di kompetisi domestik melawan Brighton sebelum sepenuhnya mengalihkan fokus pada agenda perburuan pemain di bursa transfer musim panas.
