Michael Carrick first became involved with football when he was five years old, playing five-a-side football with Wallsend Boys Club on Saturday nights, courtesy of his father's volunteer work at the club. Football became more serious for him at the age of 12 when he was selected for Wallsend Schools' and later on North Tyneside Schools'. Whilst playing for Wallsend Boys' Club under 16s, he was capped for the England Boys' club side. During the school years, and the years up until his move to West Ham United, Carrick actually played as a centre forward; it was only at West Ham where he started to play more often as a midfielder.

Having studied at Wallsend's Western Middle School and Burnside Community High School until completing his GCSEs in 1997, he was courted by many clubs before being taken to West Ham by Wallsend-based North East scouts Dave Mooney and Bill Gibbs, who had watched Carrick for a few years playing for Wallsend Boys' Club.

Carrick's professional career began at the famous youth academy of West Ham United in 1998. A notable contribution during the season 98-99 came from him in the FA Youth Cup final, where he helped, alongside another rising star Joe Cole, West Ham to a 9-0 victory over Coventry City, scoring two goals himself. Carrick made his senior debut as a substitute replacing Rio Ferdinand in a 3-0 win at Bradford City in August 1999. He spent two periods on loan that season. In 2000-01, his exploits in his first full season for West Ham gained widespread recognition, resulting in his being nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award (Steven Gerrard of Liverpool FC was the winner).

2002-2003 was a season to forget for Carrick, as much of it for him was plagued by injury and West Ham were eventually relegated from the FA Premier League at the end of the season. Carrick decided to stay with the club, playing for them the subsequent season 2003-2004 in the division now called Football League Championship. At the time, a number of clubs were credited with an interest in Carrick, such as Portsmouth, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. It appeared that Arsenal were winning the race to sign him, before Patrick Vieira decided to stay at the club, thus stopping any potential transfer.

Before the beginning of season 2004-2005, keen to ply his trade in the highest league, Carrick then moved to Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £2.75 million.The following two seasons at Tottenham were a major success for him as Spurs enjoyed an upturn in footballing fortunes with major investments in new players and a new management. Under the guidance of Spurs manager Martin Jol, Carrick rose to fame with Spurs during the seasons 2004-2005 and 2005-2006, gaining the sort of reputation that eventually led to speculation about a move to Manchester United on 31 July 2006.

On 31 July 2006, Carrick moved to Manchester United. An initial bid of £10 million by Manchester United was rejected, though a later bid with a £14 million basic fee, potentially rising to £18.6 million depending on club and player success, was accepted. This potentially makes Carrick the fifth most expensive player acquired by Manchester United.

Carrick wears the number 16 shirt for Manchester United, previously worn by former captain Roy Keane. Despite having the same number as Keane, Carrick plays an entirely different style of football. While Roy is a hard man midfielder, Carrick is more of a deep playmaker. Carrick also stated in an interview that he is not “The Next Roy Keane” for Manchester United, but he is his own man, with his own style.

He made his Premiership debut for Manchester United on 23 August 2006, coming on as a substitute in United's 3-0 away win over Charlton Athletic. He had sustained an injury in his original debut against Porto in the Amsterdam Tournament. He made his starting line-up debut against Watford on 26 August 2006 at Vicarage road, which United went on to win 2-1.

Carrick had started almost every game for United in the 2006/7 season. He was briefly injured in late December, at which point his 'holding' role in central midfield was filled in by John O'Shea or Darren Fletcher.

Carrick scored his first goal for Manchester United on 13 January 2007 - the Red Devils' second goal in a 3-1 win over Aston Villa at Old Trafford in the Premier League. On 10 April 2007 Carrick scored two long-range right-foot curlers against A.S. Roma in Manchester United's 7-1 victory in the quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League at Old Trafford. He opened the scoring with his first, thus setting United on their way to the semi finals.

With the arrival of Owen Hargreaves at Old Trafford for the 2007/08 season, Carrick acknowledged that he is not guaranteed a place in United's first team. However, Manchester United fans are eagerly awaiting another partnership duo like Scholes and Keane in the late 90’s in the form of two England internationals like Carrick and Hargreaves.

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