Saturday round table: Carrick pressure, Milan derby win and a busy January window

Kwame: Welcome to the round table for Saturday 31 October. Golden Era ran 18 stories that day, and the biggest question sat at Old Trafford. Manchester United lost 2-0 at Chelsea, which stretched their winless run to nine matches in all competitions. Michael Carrick is now the subject of a replacement search, at least as far as the reports go.

Rico: And the reports disagree, which is where the fun starts. The Athletic says United agreed to keep Carrick until the November international break, then reassess after Roma and Aston Villa. Football365 and TEAMtalk lean towards a sacking that is immediate or inevitable. One of those is wrong.

Shiv: Nine without a win is not a mood. It is a table.

Kwame: The name in the frame is Eddie Howe. He has been out of work since leaving Newcastle in the summer, and BBC Sport says the compensation owed has halved from £6m to £3m and is understood to hit zero before the season ends. That is a discount even I can respect. Jason Wilcox is thought to favour him, while Christopher Vivell prefers Julian Nagelsmann. TEAMtalk, meanwhile, says Howe is not the dream target.

Rico: So the director of football and the director of recruitment want different managers. That is not a shortlist, that is a negotiation.

Kwame: Then there is Lisandro Martinez. He said "We expect more from the top, from upstairs, to bring in more players to compete." Then he committed two fouls in 83 seconds at Stamford Bridge, was sent off, and is suspended for the Villa match. Who pays for a public complaint about the people upstairs? Usually the player.

Shiv: Eighty-three seconds. Two fouls. United left a man short. The complaint may be fair, but the timing was poor.

Kwame: Better news elsewhere. Bournemouth beat Leeds 2-0, their sixth straight win without conceding under Marco Rose.

Shiv: The goal came in the 31st minute. James Trafford tried to play short under pressure, Justin Kluivert stole in and set up Evanilson. Leeds had 56.1% of the ball and 10 shots, but only one on target. Dominic Calvert-Lewin also had a goal ruled out by VAR for handball. Possession is not a result.

Rico: Rose has built a side that makes you pay for a loose pass. Trafford found out how quickly.

Kwame: Tottenham beat Crystal Palace 2-0, their third straight Premier League win, the first such run since February 2025. Palace played most of it with 10 men after Jean-Philippe Mateta's red card, a VAR upgrade for a studs-up slide on Micky van de Ven. He now misses Liverpool, Coventry and Hull.

Shiv: Spurs had 34 shots, their most in a league game since February 2016, and 79.4% possession. Archie Gray scored in the 25th minute, Jan Paul van Hecke in the 73rd. Thirty-four shots for two goals. Against 10 men, that is an efficiency question.

Kwame: In Italy, AC Milan beat Inter 3-1 with all three goals before half-time, from Christian Pulisic, Adrien Rabiot and Diego Moreira.

Rico: Moreira scored one and set up the other two. He called it "la notte più bella da quando sono al Milan" and thanked his idol Kaká, who was at San Siro. Nicolò Barella pointed to individual errors and illness, saying Pio and Bonny had fever, which left Inter short of fresh attackers.

Kwame: Now the January window. Start with Viktor Gyokeres. TEAMtalk reported on 17 October that he would push for a January exit because he had not started a league game. Sportsmole had his league minutes at 59.

Shiv: Then 24 October. Mikel Arteta starts him against Everton, Arsenal win 2-0, and Khel Now credits him with the assist for Ezri Konsa's opener. Speaking during Sweden duty, he said, as quoted by FourFourTwo, "Of course, you expect more playing time." He also said staying in the summer was a given and that he was extremely happy at Arsenal. One start does not close a story, but it changes the headline.

Rico: Endrick is the other one. Cadena SER reported he wants a January loan, with Aston Villa favourites over Lyon and Roma. Jose Mourinho says he does not need to leave and will be a "huge success". Endrick's own line was, "If I'm meant to leave in January, I'll leave. If I'm meant to stay, I'll stay." That is a player keeping every door open.

Kwame: Alex Scott is a clearer money story. BBC Sport reported on 13 October that Bournemouth would let him go in January for about £100m. They turned down a Chelsea bid of £60m rising to £64m in the summer. The Mail first had Liverpool in pole position, then two weeks later reported Chelsea as frontrunners.

Rico: Chelsea feature in another January story too. El Nacional reports that Xabi Alonso wants them to spend €120m on Jules Kounde and Frenkie de Jong. That is unconfirmed. And whether Liverpool or Chelsea submits a formal bid to Monaco for Lamine Camara remains an open question.

Kwame: Chelsea will remember how the last Camara attempt ended. On deadline day they had a €55m deal after €45m and €50m were rejected. Monaco then cancelled it despite a written agreement, believing they could get €70m. Their planned sale of Folarin Balogun to Everton collapsed when he walked away after midnight. Chelsea had sold Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City for £125m the same day. CaughtOffside says Chelsea walked away from Camara afterwards, while Football365 says they are still keen.

Shiv: Fool's gold number two is Julian Alvarez to Barcelona. Atletico demanded his full €500m release clause, and Real Madrid had a €150m bid rejected. On 24 October he apologised on Movistar Plus, calling his comments "a mistake in terms of how I said it and the timing."

Kwame: Harry Kane won the Ballon d'Or on 26 October after scoring 73 goals for club and country last season. Sky Sports reported on 16 October that he agreed in principle to extend at Bayern to 2029, but Max Eberl says there is no formal commitment yet. Tottenham get no extra money, because the 2023 deal had no clause for it.

Rico: Quick gossip. Manchester United, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain are reportedly eyeing Fermin Lopez, whom Fabrizio Romano calls "absolutely untouchable" at Barcelona. And Jadon Sancho turned down Getafe, per Marca, but has an offer from Saudi Arabia.

Shiv: Our top 10 footballers ranking has Kylian Mbappé first on 11 La Liga goals, Kane second, Messi third, and Cristiano Ronaldo fourth on 980 career goals.

Kwame: Last, Tuesday. The Barcelona v Aston Villa preview has Villa second in the group on nine points, with 12 goals scored and three conceded. Barcelona are eighth on six points from three games, per the BBC table last updated on 22 October.

Rico: Villa, Endrick, Barcelona. One flight, many questions.

Shiv: Villa have scored 12 and conceded three. Barcelona need points. That is the whole preview.

On the desk, not published

Stories we weighed that day and did not run, with the reason. Unconfirmed until someone confirms them.

• Barcelona beat Alavés 6-1. Reported by FC Barcelona, BBC Sport, AP News. Below the line for the day.
• Nvidia weighs cosigning financing for Nscale’s West Virginia AI data center. Reported by Reuters via StreetInsider, TechCrunch AI, The Manila Times / Reuters. Written, but it did not get past our standards editor.
• Carrick expects to stay at Manchester United despite record winless run. Reported by Sky Sports football, The Independent football, Evening Standard football. Below the line for the day.
• Brighton beat Manchester City 1-0 at the Etihad. Reported by Brighton, Premier League, The Independent football. Below the line for the day.
• Dortmund snatch a late draw at Bayern Munich. Reported by BBC Sport football, Sky Sports football. Below the line for the day.
• Brighton beat Manchester City 1-0 at the Etihad. Reported by Brighton, Brighton & Hove Albion, Manchester City. Below the line for the day.
• Chelsea beat Manchester United 2-0 as Martínez is sent off. Reported by BBC Sport football, The Independent football, Evening Standard football. Below the line for the day.
• Ronaldo scores 67th career hat-trick for Al-Nassr. Reported by BBC Sport football. Below the line for the day.

The desk read 44,355 items, evaluated 249 stories and published 74.