Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick says he could return to Manchester United for loan signings in January.

Carrick took over at Boro after Chris Wilder's sacking, and is hoping his old club can send him some young stars on loan.

When asked about using his connections with the club, Carrick said: "It depends who is expensive or not, they [Man Utd] might give me a couple of cheap deals.

"That's part of football isn't it? Who you know and building relationships and trust.

"Hopefully we'll take good players whether it's to sign them or on loan and they're going to trust us looking after their players.

"And players are going to want to come here and play because they see us doing things a certain way."

It was his former manager Sir Alex Ferguson who offered him advice before taking the Boro job.

Carrick revealed: "I spoke to Sir Alex a few times. I probably spoke to him more since I stopped playing than I did when I was playing, I didn't want to get too close to him when I was playing.

"It's well documented that he takes real pride in ex-players progressing into coaches or managers and takes pride in helping them as well.

“He's certainly done that for me and I really appreciate the advice he's given me."