Mauricio Pochettino has agreed a two-and-a-half-year deal to become Manchester United's next head coach, according to reports, hours after the club confirmed that Michael Carrick had been sacked.
The agreement, reported by The Times, runs until the summer of 2029, and United are understood to have agreed to pay US Soccer a release clause of around 7.5 million pounds to free the 54-year-old from his contract as head coach of the United States men's national team. Reports put the total compensation package, including his backroom staff, at around 9 million pounds.
United confirmed on Thursday morning that they had parted company with Carrick, with the team sitting in the relegation zone having won just one Premier League game all season. The decision was approved at a board meeting earlier in the week, after senior executives concluded that a change was unavoidable.
Pochettino will not be in Manchester immediately. He is expected to manage two final USA games against Haiti during the November international break before arriving to take training on 18 or 19 November, and he is expected to be in the dugout for the trip to Liverpool on 22 November.
The Argentine first spoke with Manchester United in October, with initial conversations happening at ownership level. The Glazer family are understood to have spearheaded the approach, with sporting director Jason Wilcox then taking the talks forward and co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe endorsing the appointment. Newcastle manager Eddie Howe was considered but was not given a formal interview.
Pochettino extended his contract with the US Soccer Federation only three months ago, through the 2030 World Cup, but the deal included a buyout clause that allowed him to leave if a club paid the fee. The BBC reported that the federation had anticipated a possible approach from United and had already prepared scenarios for a successor.
For United, the appointment ends a search that has shadowed the club for weeks. Pochettino, the former Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea manager, has long been admired at Old Trafford, and he is understood to have told US Soccer that he wants to take the job. The club have not yet made an official announcement, and the deal remains subject to the formalities of his release from the USA role.
The scale of the task facing him is stark. United sit in the relegation zone after a dreadful start to the season, and reports say the incoming manager has already been tasked with leading the club back into the Champions League next season, alongside restoring authority in the dressing room and establishing a clearer identity on the pitch.
He will also have to strengthen a squad that has looked short of quality in key areas. Reports this week said Pochettino had already shortlisted targets to strengthen the team in central defence, one of the positions where United have been weakest this season.
For the United States, the timing is awkward, with the World Cup on home soil now less than two years away and a successor to be found in the middle of the international break. For Pochettino, though, the chance to manage one of the biggest clubs in world football was one he was not prepared to turn down — and if the final formalities go through as expected, his first match in charge will be one of the fiercest fixtures in English football, away at Liverpool.
