Michael Carrick has been in charge of Manchester United since January but is under increasing pressure at Old Trafford

Nicky Butt has opened up on a conversation between him and Michael Carrick prior to the latter taking the Manchester United job. Carrick became interim manager at the start of the year, following Ruben Amorim's exit.

A third place finish and qualification for the Champions League saw his job become permanent in the summer. But the season so far has not gone how Carrick or the club would have hoped.

A 2-0 loss against Chelsea at the weekend saw United drop to 17th place in the Premier League table, and only out of the relegation zone on goal difference. The form and performances have seen pressure mount on Carrick.

The 45-year-old accepted the role seven months after departing his sole other permanent managerial post at Middlesbrough. It has since been suggested that he had no plans to return to the dugout.

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Last month, Butt disclosed a conversation he'd had with Carrick on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast. "I was with Michael before he got the Man United job and spoke to him about management," he said.

"He went, 'No it's not for me, it's too much. My head's all over the show. I'd only do it for the big job.' The big job is Man United."

United are believed to have been displeased with the remarks, particularly at a juncture when Carrick's position is coming under mounting scrutiny. United have failed to win in their previous nine fixtures across all competitions, prompting questions surrounding the manager's prospects.

Butt has now sought to clarify the story, emphasising that Carrick was always prepared to accept the United role. "I believe I said that but I'll clarify what I meant, and I'm not ducking, it I'm really not. I'll explain," he said on Piers Morgan Uncensored.

"I was playing in a padel tournament with Michael, he's my doubles partner, and I was talking about football and Middlesbrough. I had a beer after it, and I was like 'so what's your plans mate? What do you think you're going to do when you get back into management?''

"He said 'no, it's all over the show, it's hard work – however, if the big one came up, obviously I would take it.' And the big one did come up, and he took it, and that wasn't a case of me saying Michael didn't want the Man United job, it was a case of he didn't want a job.

"He didn't want to go driving up and down the M6 all day when he's got kids at home for no reward. But if the big one comes, which I assume was Man United, then he'd take it. That's the facts of the conversation that I had with him."

Carrick himself brushed off the original comments during a press conference last month. He said: "I definitely wouldn't be here if that was the case, would I?

"At this stage. It's the best job I could possibly have. It's the best role I could possibly have. I feel a real privilege of being in this position and a real responsibility, but equally a drive of wanting to make a difference and having success here.

"So yeah, I'm loving it. I love the situation when actually you get a little bit of a some sort of struggle where you've got to find a way out of it.

"I actually really enjoy that because that's part of what drives you to have success, and that's part of the end of it. And if you're not ready for that and you can't do anything that's difficult, then you're never going to be great. So we've got to work our way through it and I'm enjoying it as we go."

United return to action on Tuesday evening when they welcome AS Roma in the Champions League (8pm kick-off), before hosting Aston Villa in the Premier League the following Sunday (4.30pm), ahead of the season's second international break.