Michael Carrick laughed off Nicky Butt's claim that he had reservations about returning to management before taking the Manchester United job.
Speaking on the Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, Butt recalled a conversation with Carrick in which the United boss is claimed to have said he was unsure about managing again after being sacked by Middlesbrough.
"I was with Michael before he got the Man United job and spoke to him about management," Butt 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.'"
Carrick's response to Butt's claim
United have taken a dim view of Butt revealing their conversation when results have been poor, but Carrick laughed it off when the quote was put to him during his press conference on Friday.
"I definitely wouldn't be here if that was the case, would I?" Carrick smiled when asked about potentially not wanting to be a manager.
"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."
Enjoying the challenge
"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," he added.
"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."
Carrick denied that he personally needed results during his press conference, speaking about the high expectations at United, and he admitted he is relishing the test of facing Leeds at Elland Road on Sunday.
"I don't think it's the last game I need right now, for sure," he said of Leeds. "I'm really looking forward to the game. I generally feel the drive for myself to want to push this club forward more than anything."
Focus on the club
"There's always negativity if you want to look for it or you want to feel it, but I don't go looking for it. I don't want to feel it. I understand the reality and I've said it enough in terms of feeling like I'm saying the same things, but accepting where we are, but I don't feel that."
"I'm totally focused on what's best for this place and this football club and what it's going to take to win games, you know, and get the boys playing what we know we're capable of, which we still don't think we're that far away."
"You know, we can turn a few things in our favour and we'll be in good shape again and we can move forward pretty quickly. So, like I said earlier, I really don't think about me."
"I don't think 'how am I going to get through this, how am I going to survive this and what do I need to do to look after myself'. It's not important. It's about this football club and winning football matches."
