Pochettino set to take charge of two more USA games before joining Manchester United

Manchester United have struck a verbal agreement in principle with Mauricio Pochettino to become their next manager, but the Argentine will remain with the United States national team for their CONCACAF Nations League quarter-final against Haiti before taking charge at Old Trafford.

The USA face Haiti across two legs this week — the first on Saturday, the second three days later — and United are said to be comfortable allowing Pochettino to honour those commitments before making the switch. The arrangement does, however, reduce the time he will have to prepare his new squad ahead of United’s next Premier League fixture against Liverpool on November 22.

Michael Carrick, who is expected to be informed of his dismissal after arriving at Carrington on Thursday morning, leaves United sitting in the bottom three of the Premier League table with just one league win all season. A spirited 4-4 draw with Aston Villa in their last outing was not enough to save his job.

The decision to move on from Carrick follows a meeting of senior United figures in Monaco, where CEO Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox made the case for a managerial change.

Pochettino, 54, had a mixed start to life with the USA but grew into the role, guiding the co-hosts through a strong World Cup campaign. They topped a group containing Australia, Paraguay and Turkey before defeating Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32, ultimately falling to Belgium. His tenure was dented by a shock defeat to Panama in the 2025 CONCACAF Nations League semi-finals, and with the next semi-finals not scheduled until the new year, someone else will likely inherit that challenge if the USA progress past Haiti.

Manchester City’s former manager Pep Guardiola has been mentioned as a potential candidate to succeed Pochettino with the US national team, with the federation reportedly considering an approach.