Mauricio Pochettino’s representatives are reportedly talking personal terms with Manchester United this week, putting his two-year run as the U.S. men’s national team head coach on the fast track to an exit. While it looks like a favorable direction for United, there are still a bunch of formalities to nail down. This isn’t some done deal just yet, but the chatter is loud.
The Price Tag and the Awkward Timing
Hold up, because Michael Carrick is still the head coach at United right now, and he was even leading training sessions on Tuesday as all this news started breaking. Talk about awkward! Plus, United hasn’t even hit up U.S. Soccer to activate Pochettino’s buyout clause. That clause is reportedly sitting at a cool $10 million, and that’s just for Pochettino himself. If United wants his entire coaching staff, who he’s worked with for decades, they’ll have to cough up even more cash to U.S. Soccer. It’s a chunky bill.
And man, the timing for the USMNT could not be worse. The next World Cup is still four years out, but Pochettino only just signed a fresh four-year deal back in August. Right now, he’s actually with the team at the U.S. Soccer’s national training center in Atlanta, prepping for a huge Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals against Haiti. They’ve got a two-legged series coming up, with the first game on Saturday at Nu Stadium in Miami and the second on Tuesday at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati. Defender Antonee Robinson even stepped up on Tuesday to talk about the reports, and get this, he admitted this isn’t the first time the players have been put in this wild spot during Pochettino’s tenure. Robinson said, “That news kind of got sprung on us, like the rest of the world, I’d say. Similar things happened in the past, happened at the World Cup where huge teams lose their manager and they start looking at possible candidates and for us to have a manager who’s linked with those sorts of jobs means we’re very lucky to work with a top-level manager but it never seems to leak into the work we do, whether it’s the World Cup or whether it’s going to be this camp.” You gotta respect the players trying to stay focused amidst this chaos.
Pochettino’s Impact and What’s Next
Pochettino really did bring some international star power to the USMNT, something they haven’t always had. U.S. Soccer usually picks from its domestic talent pool, but they went big with him. He became the federation’s highest-paid coach ever when he joined in 2024, and his salary only went up with his recent extension. He made his name in the European club game, tearing it up at Tottenham Hotspur before moving on to Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea. So, it’s no shocker that clubs like Manchester United never truly lost interest.
So, what’s next for the USMNT? They’ve got those critical Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals against Haiti on Saturday and Tuesday. The focus has to be on those games, no matter what’s happening behind the scenes with the coaching staff. Beyond that, everyone’s gonna be watching to see if United makes this deal official, and if so, who U.S. Soccer brings in to lead the team moving forward. Talk about high stakes!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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