Only title is good enough says Carrick

NEW Manchester United captain Michael Carrick has warned that the club must think bigger than a top- four finish next season, saying: ‘It’s win the league or nothing for me.’

Carrick, who succeeds Wayne Rooney as skipper, wasted no time spelling out what he expects from his team-mates.

United have finished in the top four only once since they were last champions under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013 but Carrick says that not even a Champions League place would satisfy his ambitions to help ‘a beast of a club’ return to the pinnacle of English football.

‘I can’t get my head around that, to say top-four is acceptable,’ said the five-time title winner with United. ‘You can’t expect to win the league every year. But you’ve got to set out to do that. We can’t be sat here saying finishing in the top four is a step up from last season. That’s not what we’re about here.

‘We need to be aiming for the top. As players, we understand that, and that’s what we’re geared for as a club. We’ve got to put it into practice and take it a step further than we have done the last few years. It’s pretty much win the league or nothing for me.’ Now 35, Carrick sees it as his responsibility to help instil the principles that he learned after arriving from Tottenham in 2006.

‘I’m well aware of the standards that need to be set at this club,’ he said. ‘ I’ve been fortunate to have played with some great leaders and characters in my career here and I’ve learned a lot.

‘There have been times in the league when standards have dropped, there’s no hiding from that. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get back there again if you keep doing the right things.

‘It’s a big club, this; a beast of a football club. There are things that come with that: responsibility, pressure and expectation, and that’s only off the pitch. So when you get on the pitch it’s a different ball game as well.

‘When you’re here, it’s difficult to explain how different it can be to other clubs until you go through it. There are big players who come here and, for whatever reason, it hasn’t worked for them.’

United forward Anthony Martial is wanted on loan by Wolfsburg and Inter Milan. He says he is determined to fight for his place, although he is behind Marcus Rashford and Romelu Lukaku in Jose Mourinho’s plans.

United have been offered Ivory Coast right- back Serge Aurier, who is unhappy at Par i s Saint-Germain.