was one of 10 Tottenham players who fell ill at a hotel just before their final game of the season away to West Ham as the players suffered from apparent food poisoning. He managed to play in the game but lasted just 63 minutes in the 2–1 defeat to his former club. As a result of the loss rivals Arsenal beat them to fourth place in the league and the spot for the Champions League. He made more crosses and more passes than any other Tottenham player during the 2005–06 season, and along with Mido was joint top in assists. Manchester United 2006–2009: Title success and European Double On 10 June, Tottenham revealed they had rejected a bid from Manchester United for Carrick, who was seen by their manager Sir Alex Ferguson as a replacement for the departed Roy Keane, the former club captain. The following day, Tottenham manager Martin Jol insisted Carrick would be staying with the club, stating "I don't want to lose a player like Michael, who was probably our best midfielder last season". On 28 July, Tottenham announced that the clubs agreed a deal for the transfer of Carrick to Manchester United. Three days later, the transfer was official as personal terms were agreed with Carrick. Despite agreeing a deal for the player the previous week – the fee was not made public until Spurs issued a statement to the stock exchange. Manchester United's chief executive David Gill confirmed the transfer fee as £14 million, potentially rising to £18.6 million, which would make Carrick the sixth most expensive player acquired by Manchester United at the time. He was given the number 16 shirt, previously worn by Keane. Carrick made his debut for the club on 4 August 2006 in a 3–1 pre-season friendly win over Porto in the Amsterdam Tournament. The following day, Carrick was forced to miss the start of the 2006–07 season as a result of injuring his foot during the final tournament match against Ajax. Following his recovery from this injury he made his competitive debut on 23 August in a 3–0 away league win over Charlton Athletic. Three days later, he made his first start for the club in a 2–1 win away over Watford. Towards the end of December he missed two games as he suffered a minor injury. He returned in time to feature in United's final game of 2006,