Pochettino closes in on Manchester United job as Carrick nears exit after relegation-zone slump

Mauricio Pochettino is closing in on the Manchester United manager’s job, with personal terms reportedly agreed and a deal being finalised to replace Michael Carrick, who is expected to be dismissed following a club meeting on Wednesday.

United sit 18th in the Premier League with just eight points from 10 matches after a turbulent run that included a 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth and a 2-0 loss at Chelsea. A 3-2 Champions League win over Roma and a 4-4 draw against Aston Villa were not enough to lift the pressure on Carrick, whose tenure appears to be ending with the club stranded in the relegation zone.

Pochettino, currently the United States men’s national team manager, is United’s top target according to reports, with the club having long admired the 54-year-old. Should the move materialise, a compensation fee of approximately £7.4 million would be owed to US Soccer, with additional costs expected for his backroom staff. It is reported that US Soccer has not yet been formally contacted.

Longtime assistant Jesus Perez is expected to follow Pochettino to Old Trafford, as he has done at every club the Argentine has managed. The prospect carries a certain symmetry: at this summer’s World Cup 2026 preparations, Pochettino was asked about United during a press briefing ahead of the US side’s match against Bosnia and Herzegovina. He turned to Perez and jokingly promised him, according to The Telegraph: “One day, your dream comes true! You go to Manchester United!”

Perez, who reportedly made trips to Manchester during his time in England and was a visitor to the National Football Museum, responded: “United should have got you” — to which Pochettino replied with a grin: “Future! Future!”

That exchange, dismissed at the time as banter, now looks prescient. Pochettino is contracted with the USMNT through to the 2030 World Cup, but United’s need for a new manager appears to be accelerating a move that both parties seem open to completing.