Louis Saha names four signings Man Utd must make to challenge for Premier League title under Michael Carrick

Louis Saha believes Manchester United can challenge for major honours next season, providing they get their recruitment right, as they prepare for the true start of the Michael Carrick era.Carrick took charge of the Red Devils on an interim basis back in January, just days after Ruben Amorim had left Old Trafford under a cloud.Amorim, who lasted less than 18 months in the dugout, departed controversially after criticising his superiors following a draw away at Leeds.But Carrick immediately proved to be a hit at United. Back-to-back victories over Manchester City and Arsenal set the tone, with the Red Devils eventually finishing third in the Premier League table - their highest position in three years. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say With the season now over, transfer speculation is rife. United have agreed to sign Brazilian midfielder Ederson from Serie A giants Atalanta, while links to the likes of Elliot Anderson, Lewis Hall, Sandro Tonali and Matheus Fernandes remain ongoing.Saha, speaking exclusively to GB News, believes the Red Devils need at least two midfielders this summer.And the Frenchman, who won two crowns during his spell at Old Trafford, thinks a left-back and another striker should all be priorities too.We need two midfielders. A leader and a very aggressive centre-mid. If you want to win the league, you need this player more than a striker. So a Casemiro replacement, plus more, would be nice, he said via CasinoNews.And you definitely need someone who is a bit more creative, who can provide a bit of support for Bruno Fernandes. Who could maybe be a bit more versatile in his position. Someone who could play on the wing sometimes, be a bit more creative than what we already have with Kobbie Mainoo.That’s very important, but we need also a striker that provides something different to [Benjamin] Sesko. Maybe sometimes it’s good to have [Bryan] Mbeumo there, but I don’t think that is his main quality is as a striker. So we need a player to bring more goals, I would say, 15 to 20 goals.Someone who can bring more clearances, and let’s say, 10 per cent more possession in midfield and less transition. So we can be a bit more dominant physically and tactically.And we definitely need one defender at least, maybe a left-back, who is less injury-prone.Leadership is definitely always a great quality, but when we have that, I think we will be in good shape for the Champions League and Premier League, because this is the standard of Manchester United.You need high standards, and you need high quality to maintain that, not only in the good moments but in the bad moments, to be there and be solid.Saha and Carrick were once teammates at United.LATEST SPORTS NEWS:David Sullivan quits West Ham after being made aware of 'serious historic allegations'Kim Kardashian makes F1 paddock debut as Lewis Hamilton prepares for Monaco Grand PrixGareth Southgate lands new role before England begin World Cup campaignThey helped the Red Devils win titles in 2007 and 2008 under Sir Alex Ferguson before the ex-France striker left for Everton.Saha opened up on what Carrick was like as a teammate. He continued: As a player, he was very composed, very calm, but also very connected with strikers, which is not easy when you defend a lot.And that connection also provided a lot of confidence that, at any moment, he could find you without you even raising your hand and all that.This, Saha believes, makes him the ideal manager.I think he managed to make those invisible links between the players very concrete, he added.It seems like, straight away, players like Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha, Bruno Fernandes, and Kobbie Mainoo in particular understood where to pass, when to pass, where to go, where not to go, and when to press after they lose the ball.In so many ways, this communication, without shouting, without too much wording, was like what Carrick was doing when he was a player.As a manager, he was able to do that with his players in a few weeks. So it’s an amazing quality to make them confident about where to go, how to behave in certain situations, and all that. It just clicks really well.While Carrick has impressed during his short time in charge of United, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer represents a cautionary tale.Solskjaer ruled the roost for three years but never got United over the line when it came to a trophy, before ultimately losing his job in November 2021 after a chastening 4-1 defeat away at Watford.To some, Carrick is simply Solskjaer Part Two.Yet Saha disagrees with that assessment and believes Carrick is the blend of the managers before him, while also suggesting that Amorim deserves credit for the job he did during his time in charge, even if results were often disappointing.I think that Michael Carrick, what he has done, was maybe a continuity of what Ruben Amorim has done as well, and provided a better version, he said.The foundation has been brought to him, without giving too much praise to Amorim.And what I say about why there still needs to be a big improvement, not only from the owners or Michael Carrick, but all the players, is because the challenge that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and maybe all the managers before Michael Carrick had is that we had competition in Europe. Michael didn’t have that.So this has a different kind of vibe in terms of trying to compare somebody. I understand that, but my understanding of football is not as difficult as we make it out to be. It’s very simple.This combination of things, communicating the right kind of energy, momentum and all that, it’s very clear for me.It’s here, it’s a foundation, we’ve seen it. Even if they’ve not been playing super well, it’s still there. The thing that I can recognise as very important for the players to understand is this kind of aggression and passion, and all that is needed to maintain its way during the whole season.And I do think that is still a missing link. That’s why we need additions at Manchester United, proper ones.And this is the biggest challenge in so many ways, because the team, for me, is still too weak to compete for the Premier League, Champions League and cups all at once.I do think that is why Ole has been overlooked. He has played with Cristiano Ronaldo, with tension, with all those kinds of situations. It was really hard for him to manage.Whereas Carrick carries all the work that Amorim did before, but is basically bringing back the values of the club in some way.So this is where I think Ole had to do the work. And what Carrick is getting now is a combination of all the work of the managers that came before him.This is my take. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think that every experience helped the club to realise: ‘Oh, this formula didn’t work, this formula didn’t work, this will work, but this is missing.’And I think Carrick, at the end, added up everything and took the best parts and made the good version that we see today. Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter