Antonio Conte Manchester United links sharpen Carrick pressure

"Conte left Napoli in the summer, and he is ready to return. He has turned down offers from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, because he wanted to join a big club in one of the major leagues." Fabrizio Romano said that on goal.com, and it is the latest reason Manchester United are being dragged into the managerial conversation again. United are still backing M. Carrick for now, but they are 13th in the Premier League with 6 points from 6 matches.

United's results are driving the noise

The league table is doing a lot of the work here. United have won 1, drawn 3 and lost 2, and their most recent league outing ended 1-1 with Tottenham at Old Trafford. Across all competitions, they have only 2 wins in 8 matches, with an early League Cup exit in that run.

Conte's own words line up with the sort of project a club like United would offer. "When you go to a club whose history speaks for itself, with a history full of trophies, league titles and victories, there is only one way you can honour that history, and that is by having the ambition to bring the club back into contention for those targets if it is not achieving them at present," he said on goal.com. Eddie Howe is also being linked with a Premier League return, but no source here confirms a move. The interest is real enough to keep the conversation alive, not enough to call anything settled.