Manchester United travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe flying in to oversee the clash

Sir Jim Ratcliffe will fly into London to watch Manchester United's Premier League clash with Chelsea on Saturday afternoon. It comes as Michael Carrick's long-term future at the club remains uncertain, following a lacklustre start to the new season.

United currently sit 16th in the Premier League as a result of just one win from their opening eight games. The European landscape is no better, with United winning just one in three in the Champions League, 20th on that table.

They were also ousted from the Carabao Cup in the third round as a result of a 3-2 loss to a high-flying Brighton and Hove Albion, further compounding misery across Greater Manchester. While the top brass of Old Trafford have reaffirmed their faith in Carrick for the time being, the board have shown just how ruthless they can be with regards to sacking underperforming head coaches.

Erik ten Hag, for example, was let go in November 2024 following a similarly shocking start to the season, while his successor in Ruben Amorim was shown the door in January. As a result, Carrick will be feeling the pressure to deliver a result when his side meet Xabi Alonso's Chelsea in west London this weekend.

That will be amplified by the presence of Ineos chief, Ratcliffe, who is set to have a front-row view for the encounter. As per the Sun, Ratcliffe is expected to arrive on English soil on Wednesday, having spent time in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, recently.

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Ratcliffe has failed to see United taste glory at Stamford Bridge since buying into the club back in 2024. However, it is not just Carrick who could be in hot water if the first-team fail to turn the tide on Saturday.

Speaking with BBC Sport, sources have claimed that Ratcliffe could be considering a full overhaul of his club hierarchy - including CEO, Omar Berrada, and director of football, Jason Wilcox.

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It comes as club legend, Nicky Butt, has pointed out that United's hierarchy has "too many learner drivers" at present, highlighting how the club has slipped since Dan Ashworth's exit in December 2024.

Speaking on the Good, the Bad and the Football, the 51-year-old said: "Listen, I'm going to point the finger at Jason, and it's not all about. If you put, let's say, a Darren Fletcher in that job, he'd get a bit of, 'Okay, he's not done it before but he knows what the football club's about.'

"If Jason comes in and he is the best of the best, which I believe Dan Ashworth was but didn't have the experience of Man United, that's why he got the job. Because he's the best. Now, if you're not the best, which you'd have to have some sort of feeling for that football club, in my opinion, Jason's not the best of the best, and he's not got the experience of the football club.

"So straight away, we're putting in to that football club at the decision-making level, as in a CEO, a sporting director, even you could say a manager - let's be honest about Michael - is they've all got L plates on their heads.

"You're working at one of the biggest football clubs in the world. You can't do that, you just can't. There's too many learner drivers within that set-up."