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The 33-year-old holding midfielder has become one of Louis van Gaal's automatic picks this term after missing the start of the season with an ankle injury.
United in fact have won more games with Carrick (72 per cent) and that figure drops to around 40 per cent without him.
But The Sun claim Carrick feared two months ago United would let him leave in the summer.
They suggest Carrick was anticipating heading back to his hometown Necastle to decide his next move.
A source close to Carrick said: "When United didn’t approach him about a new deal he thought he was out of there.
“He was going to head back to Newcastle and look at his options. He knew Van Gaal liked him but he thought with all the new signings he was maybe being thought of as too old.
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Michael Carrick (right) has had injury problems this term
“Now he’s happier than he has ever been at the club.”
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