Zinedine Zidane remains firm favourite to be the next Manchester United manager, but current coach Michael Carrick has been heavily backed.

Pressure is mounting on Jose Mourinho, who is already odds-on to be the first Premier League manager to lose his job, and odds-on to be gone by Christmas.

Mourinho himself has come out fighting and defended his own position, but the pressure is undeniably mounting.

Former Real Madrid boss Zidane is clearly the man being favoured in the markets, but Carrick has interestingly seen a lot of interest and has been cut into 20/1 having been more than twice that.

Spokesman Paddy Power said: “We’ve been inundated with bets on Michael Carrick to take over from Jose Mourinho this morning, with punters sure we’re going from the Special One to the Quiet One.

“That comes as Zidane goes on the drift quicker than Man United’s title hopes. Still, there’s always Big Sam…”