BBC Sport understands the compensation Newcastle can claim for Eddie Howe has fallen from £6m to £3m. Here is what is reported about United's next-manager list.
Manchester United have not said they are replacing Michael Carrick, and no club has announced anything about Eddie Howe. What exists is reporting and a price list, and both are unconfirmed.
Start with the price. BBC Sport reports, citing multiple sources, that when Howe left Newcastle United in the summer the two sides agreed a compensation structure that shrinks over time, so Newcastle are protected if he walks straight into another job. It is understood to have started at £6m and has already halved. The payments are understood to expire before the end of the season, after which he could be appointed for nothing. The Evening Standard, citing BBC Sport, carries the same figures.
Who is on the list
The Standard reports that Howe is the Betfair favourite to replace Carrick if United make a change, with Julian Nagelsmann and Antonio Conte also high on the list. All three are out of work.
BBC Sport reports that director of football Jason Wilcox is thought to favour Howe, while director of recruitment Christopher Vivell prefers Nagelsmann. Chief executive Omar Berrada would assess their recommendations, and minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and co-chairs Joel and Avram Glazer would have the final say.
The case for
BBC Sport sets out the record. Howe took over Bournemouth in January 2009 with the club facing relegation from League Two and led them to the Premier League in 2015. At Newcastle, from 2021, he took the club from relegation trouble to Champions League qualification twice and won the EFL Cup in 2025, their first trophy in 56 years.
The trading record matters to an owner who counts money. BBC Sport notes that Nathan Ake, Callum Wilson and Tyrone Mings were sold by Bournemouth at a big profit, and that Bruno Guimaraes, Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Alexander Isak were all sold by Newcastle for more than they joined for.
The case against
Not everyone is sold. BBC Sport says sections of United's fanbase have argued Howe is not a big enough name, and that Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt did not back him on their podcast. Roy Keane, Darren Bent, Gareth Barry and Jack Wilshere have all touted him.
The structural question is sharper. BBC Sport says Howe built a strong powerbase over recruitment at Bournemouth and Newcastle, and with Berrada, Wilcox and Vivell in place at Old Trafford he would likely not get the same autonomy, at least not immediately. It adds that he is on record as happy to work with sporting directors.
The number that matters
£3m is small money at this level. Add the cost of paying off Carrick and his staff, which BBC Sport says would come first, and the total is still modest next to what United spend on a squad.
The more interesting figure is the clock. On BBC Sport's reporting, the price to hire Howe drifts towards nothing as the season goes on. That does not tell you United will move. It tells you waiting costs less each week, and that the real obstacle is not the fee but who inside the club gets to pick.
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