Middlesbrough manager Michael Carrick is reportedly being linked with a move to Premier League club Crystal Palace at the end of the season.
According to a report from FootballTransfers, Michael Carrick is high on Crystal Palace’s wish list to replace veteran Roy Hodgson as manager ahead of the 2024–25 season.
Hodgson was re-appointed as Palace boss in March, replacing Patrick Vieria, to help them through the final months of what had been a difficult Premier League campaign that saw them facing the threat of relegation.
And the decision proved to be a master stroke. The Eagles were plummeting down the Premier League in 2022–23, and Vieira couldn’t seem to get a tune out of his players. Hodgson didn’t just save Palace; he had them playing some of the best football for years as they took apart teams in a brilliant run that saw them win five of their remaining nine league matches, drawing three and losing two.
Despite the departure of talisman Wilfried Zaha and niggling injuries to star players Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze for parts of the season, the 76-year-old started the season reasonably well this season, but an eight-game winless run has seen them slide down to 14th in the Premier League with 21 points after 20 games, five points above the relegation zone.
The issue for chairman Steve Parish, however, is that Hodgson can’t go on forever and has already retired from the game once before being coaxed back out of that short-lived sabbatical.
The Englishman is currently the oldest manager in the league’s history, and although he is unlikely to be sacked by the London club in the imminent future, it is widely expected that he will once again step down from his role as boss at the end of the season.
Middlesbrough head coach Michael Carrick is one of several names Palace are looking at to succeed Hodgson at the end of the current campaign. The 42-year-old has performed brilliantly since arriving on Teesside in October 2022, taking the club from the edge of a relegation battle to being promotion contenders in the Championship last season as they suffered a semi-final playoff exit.
Despite Boro losing two outstanding Championship forwards in Chuba Akpom and Cameron Archer last summer, they are currently sitting 10th in the second tier; and are only one points off a playoff place.
Carrick also proved his credentials as one of the most promising young English managers around in cup competitions after steering his side to a 1-0 win in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final versus Chelsea, which has put them on the verge of a Wembley appearance with a tough game at Stamford Bridge still to come.
While he is still early in his management career and his current deal at the Riverside Stadium doesn’t finish until 2025, Palace could look to test his resolve and try to entice him to South London, especially if he fails to gain promotion.
