West Ham United Carrick was part of the
West Ham United youth squad that won the
FA Youth Cup in the 1998–99 season. He scored twice in their two-legged 9–0 record final victory over
Coventry City. According to his manager at the time,
Harry Redknapp, Carrick's difficulty at the start of his career was mainly physical and he lost almost two seasons to injuries because of his rapid growth. He made his debut for West Ham in a 1–1 away draw with
Jokerit in the
UEFA Intertoto Cup on 24 July 1999. His league debut came five weeks later on 28 August, when he replaced
Rio Ferdinand in a 3–0 victory over
Bradford City at
Valley Parade. He scored his first professional career goal in a 2–1 defeat at home to
Charlton Athletic on 23 November. He scored once more during his loan spell, netting in a 1–1 draw at home to
Walsall on 4 December. Although he impressed during his spell he could not help the team find a much-needed win during his 6 outings, playing his final game for them in a 3–0 defeat at
Manchester City on 18 December. In February 2000, he was sent on loan again, this time to
Birmingham City, making just two appearances for the Blues. Carrick returned to
Upton Park and scored his first goal for West Ham United, scoring the first in a 5–0 home win over
Coventry City on 22 April. During his first season he was voted as West Ham United's Young Player of the Year. {{Quote box| width=25% Carrick made his West Ham breakthrough in the
2000–01 season, playing 41 games in all competitions, which included 33 games in the league. His only goal of the season came in a 1–1 home draw against
Aston Villa on 9 December 2000. Carrick was awarded a new, improved contract for his progress that would keep him at Upton Park until 2005. On 20 April 2001, he was nominated for the
PFA Young Player of the Year alongside teammate
Joe Cole. The award was eventually won by
Liverpool midfielder
Steven Gerrard on 29 April. For the second successive season Carrick was voted as West Ham's Young Player of the Year. The
2001–02 season saw Carrick make 32 appearances for the Hammers. Carrick scored twice during this season, his first was West Ham's only goal in a 7–1 loss at
Blackburn Rovers on 14 October. He scored the first goal in a 2–1 victory over
rivals Chelsea ten days later. Towards the end of the season, Carrick suffered a recurrence of a groin injury that ruled him out of the
2002 FIFA World Cup for the
England squad. The
2002–03 season was one to forget for Carrick, as West Ham were relegated from the
Premier League at the end of the campaign, with Carrick playing his last game of the season in a 2–0 victory over Sunderland on 22 March 2003. Rather than leave the club like teammates Joe Cole,
Frédéric Kanouté and
Jermain Defoe, Carrick stayed with West Ham during their first season back in the
First Division. During the
2003–04 season, West Ham finished fourth on the final day to ensure a place in the
play-offs. However, they lost 1–0 in the
final to
Crystal Palace and were denied a return to the top flight. Carrick was included in the
PFA Team of the Year for the First Division.
Tottenham Hotspur After one season outside the Premier League, Carrick felt compelled to leave the First Division, saying: "the truth is I didn't feel I could play First Division football much longer." On 20 August, a deal was agreed between West Ham and Tottenham for the transfer of Carrick subject to a medical. Four days later, the transfer was official as Carrick joined the club for around £3.5 million after the passing of a medical. He made a goalscoring appearance for the
Tottenham reserves, but his first team debut for the club was delayed after suffering an injury setback on 13 September. Carrick was assigned the number 23 shirt and made his Tottenham debut on 18 October as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat at Portsmouth. Despite being fit he was often overlooked by then-manager
Jacques Santini. It was unclear as to whether Santini really wanted him at all as there was much media speculation that Carrick was bought by Tottenham's Director of Football
Frank Arnesen rather than Santini. However, following the departure of Santini and the appointment of new manager
Martin Jol he soon emerged as a regular starter in midfield. His first full start for Tottenham was also Jol's first game in charge of the club away to
Burnley in the
League Cup on 9 November. During the game he assisted a goal for
Robbie Keane as they went on to win 3–0. On 18 December, he produced a display that was influential in helping Tottenham to a 5–1 win at home over
Southampton. Carrick subsequently ended the
2004–05 season with 29 league appearances but failed to score as they finished the table in 9th and missed out on a
UEFA Cup spot. On 3 December 2005, Carrick scored his first Tottenham goal as he netted the winner in a 3–2 home win over
Sunderland. He scored his second goal for the club on 8 April 2006 in a 2–1 win at home over Manchester City. On 22 April, Carrick was lauded for his performance, which helped Tottenham to a 1–1 away draw in the
North London derby against
Arsenal. On 7 May, Carrick was one of 10 Tottenham players who fell ill at a hotel just before their final game of the season away to West Ham as the players suffered from an outbreak of
norovirus, which was initially reported and widely misconceived to have been food poisoning. Carrick managed to play in the game but lasted just 63 minutes in the 2–1 defeat to his former club. As a result of the loss rivals Arsenal beat them to fourth place in the league and the spot for the
Champions League. He made more crosses and more passes than any other Tottenham player during the
2005–06 season, and along with
Mido was joint top in assists.
Manchester United 2006–2009: Title success and European double (left) in the
Manchester derby in a 3–1 home win in 2006. On 10 June, Tottenham revealed they had rejected a bid from
Manchester United for Carrick, who was seen by their manager
Sir Alex Ferguson as a replacement for the departed
Roy Keane, the former club
captain. The following day, Tottenham manager Martin Jol insisted Carrick would be staying with the club, stating "I don't want to lose a player like Michael, who was probably our best midfielder last season". On 28 July, Tottenham announced that the clubs agreed a deal for the transfer of Carrick to Manchester United. Three days later, the transfer was official as personal terms were agreed with Carrick. Despite agreeing a deal for the player the previous week, the fee was not made public until Spurs issued a statement to the stock exchange. Manchester United's chief executive
David Gill confirmed the transfer fee as £14 million, potentially rising to £18.6 million, which would make Carrick the sixth most expensive player acquired by Manchester United at the time. He was given the number 16 shirt, previously worn by Keane. Carrick made his debut for the club on 4 August 2006 in a 3–1 pre-season friendly win over
Porto in the
Amsterdam Tournament. The following day, Carrick was forced to miss the start of the
2006–07 season as a result of injuring his foot during the final tournament match against
Ajax. Following his recovery from this injury he made his competitive debut on 23 August in a 3–0 away league win over Charlton Athletic. Three days later, he made his first start for the club in a 2–1 win away over
Watford. Towards the end of December he missed two games as he suffered a minor injury. He returned in time to feature in United's final game of 2006, a 3–2 home win over
Reading on 30 December. On 13 January 2007, Carrick scored his first Manchester United goal in a 3–1 win at home over
Aston Villa. One month later, he scored his first ever
FA Cup goal in a 1–1 draw at home to Reading on 17 February. He followed this up by contributing one of United's goals in a 4–1 home win over Blackburn Rovers on 31 March. Carrick scored his first-ever Champions League goals on 10 April, scoring twice in a 7–1 home win over
Roma in their quarter-final second leg tie. They would go on to lose their semi-final tie 5–3 on aggregate to eventual winners
AC Milan, ending their hopes of an all English
final against
arch-rivals Liverpool. He scored his final goal of the season in a 2–0 win at home over
Sheffield United on 17 April. His first season with Manchester United ended in success, as they won the Premier League title as a result of Chelsea's 1–1 draw with Arsenal on 6 May. Carrick suffered an injury setback in October 2007 after breaking his elbow in a 1–0 home win over Roma in the Champions League group stage. As a result of the injury he would be out of action for up to six weeks. His return to action came on 3 November as a substitute for Anderson in a 2–2 draw at Arsenal. Carrick scored his first goal of the season on 10 February 2008 in the
Manchester derby, his goal came in injury time and was mere consolation in a 2–1 home loss to rivals Manchester City. His second and final goal of the season came against his former club West Ham United in a 4–1 win at home on 3 May. Although he scored just two league goals that season it still led to another league title as United beat
Wigan Athletic on the final day of the season to prevent Chelsea from reaching the top spot. On 18 April, one week on from their title success Carrick was offered a new five-year contract along with defenders
Rio Ferdinand and
Wes Brown. A four-year contract was then signed on 17 May 2008, which tied Carrick to United until at least June 2012. He participated in his first-ever Champions League final on 21 May in
Moscow, playing the full 120 minutes in a 6–5 penalty shootout win over Chelsea in the
2008 final. The scoreline ended 1–1 after
extra time, he took United's second penalty of the subsequent shootout, which he converted to help give him the first European honour of his career. in the
2009 UEFA Champions League final During United's first league game of the
2008–09 season at home to Newcastle United, Carrick was substituted after just 25 minutes as a result of an injured ankle in the 1–1 draw. The following day, it was confirmed he would be out for up to three weeks, which ruled him out of the
UEFA Super Cup match against
Zenit St. Petersburg on 29 August. His return to action came on 13 September in a 2–1 away loss to
Liverpool, he was taken off at half-time during after sustaining another injury. Three days later, it was revealed he would be out for up to six weeks after breaking a bone in his foot during a challenge with
Yossi Benayoun. On 1 November, Carrick scored his first goal of the season in a 4–3 home win over
Hull City. His second goal followed two weeks later in a 5–0 home win over
Stoke City. His first goal of 2009 came on 22 April as he scored late on in a 2–0 home win over
Portsmouth. On 13 May, he assisted
Carlos Tevez and then scored a late winner in a 2–1 win away to Wigan. The goal was Carrick's first for United away from home and meant that they only needed one point from their final two games to gain a third successive Premier League title. Carrick ensured a third title in three years with United as they drew with Arsenal 0–0 at home on 18 May to claim an 18th overall English title. On 27 May, Carrick played the full match in the
2009 Champions League final in a 2–0 defeat by
Barcelona. This defeat was described by Carrick as worst night of his career as he said "the game just seemed to pass us by and we were unable to do anything about it. I suppose when you look at the big picture, it was still another Champions League final". in 2009 On 30 September, Carrick scored his first goal of the
2009–10 season with the decisive goal against German champions
Wolfsburg in a 2–1 Champions League win at home. Two months later, he scored his first league goal of the
season, scoring the second of a 3–0 home win over Everton. Due to a defensive crisis during December, Carrick had to fill in at centre-back since
Gary Neville, himself being played out of position, picked up an injury against West Ham United in a 4–0 away win. Carrick had never previously played in defence during his career but manager Sir Alex Ferguson was very pleased with his contribution. On 8 December, he played in defence again by playing in a three-man defence alongside central-midfielder
Darren Fletcher and regular left-back
Patrice Evra in a 3–1 away win against Wolfsburg in the Champions League.
2010–2013: Continued success On 25 January 2010, Carrick scored the first-ever
League Cup goal of his career in a 4–3 aggregate win over rivals Manchester City in the second leg of their semi-final tie. On 6 February, Carrick scored in a 5–0 home win over Portsmouth but it was credited as a
Richard Hughes own goal following the game. However, the
Dubious Goals Panel officially awarded Carrick the goal on 25 May following a review. On 16 February 2010, he was sent off for the first time in his career after seeing two yellow cards in United's 3–2 win over A.C. Milan at the
San Siro. The midfielder was shown a second yellow card in injury-time after flicking the ball away following Patrice Evra's foul on
Alexandre Pato. Carrick played the entire game of the
2010 League Cup final against Aston Villa, which United won 2–1 resulting in his first League Cup medal. This was the first season of his United career that would end without winning the league title as Chelsea claimed the crown by a single point on the final day of the season. On 6 August 2010, it was announced that Carrick would miss the start of the
2010–11 season as a result of an ankle injury sustained in United's final pre-season game against a
League of Ireland XI. However, two days later, he played 79 minutes of United's 3–1 victory over Chelsea in the
2010 Community Shield. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson claimed, "He came in yesterday, says he was fit, wanted to train, trained, and wanted to play." On 3 March 2011, he signed a new three-year deal keeping him at the club until the end of the 2013–14 season. Carrick's first significant display of the season came in a 1–0 away win over Chelsea in the Champions League on 6 April. He played a vital pass in the move that led to
Wayne Rooney's goal and was praised for his performance. However a few days later in the FA Cup semi-final against
Manchester City Carrick gave the ball away which led to the only goal of the game scored by
Yaya Touré. At the start of the 2011–12 season, Carrick for the second season in a row was a shock starter at
Wembley for the
2011 FA Community Shield. After initially being ruled out through injury by Alex Ferguson in the pre-match build-up, Carrick was named in the starting 11 for the game on 7 August 2011. In the first half, United fell behind to a
Joleon Lescott header and a long range
Edin Džeko strike to trail 2–0 at half time. Carrick was then substituted at the interval and replaced by youngster
Tom Cleverley. However United went on to turn the game around and prevail 3–2 winners. The day after the Shield match, Carrick pulled out of England's friendly match against the Netherlands to rest a niggling injury. He was replaced in the squad by Cleverley. On 18 December, Carrick scored his first goal for United for 70 games when he advanced from his own half of the pitch after cutting out
Joey Barton's square ball, past a couple of defenders and firing low past the keeper. He eventually won the Man of the Match award. On 4 January 2012, Carrick played his 250th match for Manchester United in all competitions in a 3–0 away defeat to Newcastle United. He celebrated his Jubilee in a 3–2 away victory against Manchester City at the
Etihad Stadium in the
FA Cup third round. On 14 January 2012, Carrick scored for United in a 3–0 home win against
Bolton. In the 83rd minute, Carrick notched his first goal at
Old Trafford since January 2010. He curled a left-footed effort past
Ádám Bogdán into the bottom corner. On 16 February 2012, in a
Europa League 2–0 away win against
Ajax at the
Amsterdam Arena, Carrick played his 500th match in all competitions. Carrick also showed his class when he thundered a shot from 30 yards against the post in a 2–0 win against
Queens Park Rangers on 8 April. As a result of a defensive injury crisis at the club, Carrick started the 2012–13 season as a makeshift centre-back. His inexperience in the role was exploited by Everton in the season opener, as
Marouane Fellaini beat him to a corner kick to score the only goal of the game. He continued in the role for the next match against
Fulham. He scored his first goal of the season in a 1–0 Champions League victory against Galatasaray, after series of ball movement leading to Michael Carrick rounding the goalkeeper to score with his left foot. On 24 November 2012, Carrick was left out the squad that defeated QPR 3–1, ending his run of 33 consecutive league starts. April 2013 saw Carrick nominated for the PFA Player of the Year Award for his performances during the season with Manchester United. Arsenal manager
Arsène Wenger said Carrick would be his personal choice for the award, "He is a quality passer. He could play for Barcelona, he would be perfectly suited to their game. He has a good vision and is an intelligent player." Tottenham winger
Gareth Bale was ultimately voted as the winner; Carrick was, however, included in the PFA Team of the Year for the 2012–13 season. Carrick went on to be announced as Manchester United's Players' Player of the Year for the 2012–13 season. On 22 November 2013, Manchester United announced that Carrick had signed a contract extension until 2015, with the option to extend for a further year. In the 2013–14 season, Carrick struggled to retain his previous season's form, as Manchester United struggled generally under new manager
David Moyes. His season was not helped by a persistent achilles problem that kept him out from November until December, whilst new signings in midfield such as
Marouane Fellaini had failed to perform.
2014–2018: Final years In February 2014, Carrick was criticized by former club captain Roy Keane for what Keane thought was a poor interview. Although he made a total of 42 appearances in all competitions that season, there was speculation over whether Carrick had a future at Manchester United. In July, Carrick suffered an injury during a pre-season training session that was expected to keep him out for 12 weeks. After
Marcos Rojo suffered a dislocated shoulder in the same match, Carrick stated that he would be happy to play as a makeshift centre-back. After Carrick returned to the starting line-up on a regular basis,
Match of the Day 2 pundit
Dietmar Hamann attributed some of Manchester United's improved form to Carrick's return in December, after the club had won all of the six games that he had started. Alex Ferguson stated that he thought Carrick was the best English player in an interview with
BT Sport in December 2014, shortly after Carrick had been named as Manchester United's new
vice-captain by
Louis van Gaal. On 15 March 2015, he provided an assist for
Marouane Fellaini's goal, and scored his first goal in more than a year during a 3–0 victory against his former club
Tottenham Hotspur. Five days later, Carrick signed a new one-year extension to his contract, lengthening his Manchester United career to 10 seasons. Carrick made his 400th Manchester United appearance on 2 January 2016 in the 2–1 home win over
Swansea City, coming on as a stoppage-time substitute. On 21 May, he played the full 120 minutes in United's
FA Cup win as United beat Crystal Palace 2–1 after extra time. This victory completed his collection of every domestic honour in the English game. He signed a new one-year contract extension on 9 June 2016. at Old Trafford before his final match in 2018 Carrick scored his first goal of the
2016–17 season on 21 September with United's first in a 3–1 away victory over
Northampton Town in the third round of the
EFL Cup. Carrick became a key member of
José Mourinho's team and his performances were highly recognised for his ability to control play, instil calmness and pass accurately. Mourinho also claimed that he wished Carrick was 10 years younger. In May 2017, Carrick extended his contract until June 2018. Eleven years of service to the club resulted in Carrick being granted a testimonial at the end of the 2016–17 season. Played at Old Trafford on 4 June 2017, the match was contested by a team representing Manchester United's 2008 Champions League-winning side and a team of all-stars selected by Carrick himself, managed by Sir Alex Ferguson and
Harry Redknapp respectively. The match ended in a 2–2 draw with Carrick scoring from a 25-yard strike. The money raised from the game was distributed to Carrick's chosen charities. Following the departure of club captain Wayne Rooney from Manchester United in July 2017, Carrick was appointed as Rooney's replacement. In November 2017, Carrick announced that he had undergone a procedure for an irregular heart rhythm after suffering dizziness during a match and in training. The medical treatment was successful and he returned to United's first-team squad as club captain. In January 2018, Carrick accepted an offer to join the club's first-team
coaching staff after his retirement at the end of the
2017–18 season. He made his 464th and final appearance as a player for Manchester United in the last match of the league season against Watford at Old Trafford on 13 May, in which he helped create
Marcus Rashford's game-winning goal as his side won 1–0. Carrick was substituted towards the end of the match to allow the fans to give him a standing ovation. ==International career==