Manchester United are finalising a deal to appoint Mauricio Pochettino as head coach, according to Metro, with the club's hierarchy settling on the Argentine as the preferred successor to Michael Carrick ahead of a decisive meeting in Monaco on Wednesday, 11 November.
The move, first reported by The Athletic and confirmed across the football press, including Yahoo Sports, hinges on one condition: that United's executives formally relieve Carrick of his duties. The 45-year-old was photographed arriving at the Carrington training base on Wednesday morning while his fate was being discussed 800 miles away, where co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe was set to confer with chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox.
What happened on the pitch, and why it matters beyond it
United sit in the relegation zone after Sunday's chaotic 4-4 draw with Aston Villa, a result that followed a 4-1 Champions League defeat at Como, a 3-0 home loss to Bournemouth, a 2-0 reverse at Chelsea and a 3-2 comeback win against Roma. The sequence has left Carrick, a coach who inherited a squad assembled at staggering cost, presiding over what Metro called an almost unprecedented mess.
Carrick told reporters after the Villa draw that he would not walk away.
It's been a right mixed week or two or three, really, if you're looking at the events. But I'm pretty clear where we need to go and how we need to get there.He added that the squad would be split for the international break but that training would continue, with United next in action at Liverpool on 22 November.
Pochettino, US Soccer and the price of a manager
The compensation question exposes the economics of modern football with unusual clarity. Pochettino signed a contract with US Soccer through to 2030 only three months ago and is currently preparing the American national side for CONCACAF Nations League fixtures against Haiti. To extract him, United would need to pay his exit clause of £7.4million in full, according to Metro's reporting.
That figure deserves scrutiny. £7.4million is roughly what many care workers, the people who keep the communities around Old Trafford functioning through a decade of austerity, would collectively earn over decades of labour. It is the going rate for severing one man's contract with a federation, a transaction that will be settled between billionaires and executives without any democratic input from supporters, let alone from the residents of a city whose council budgets have been gutted while its football club circulates money on this scale.
Football365, citing David Ornstein of The Athletic, reports that United have been in contact with Pochettino's representatives and that personal terms are unlikely to be an obstacle. Pochettino has held talks with United before and is keen on the role this time, having previously managed Tottenham and Chelsea in the Premier League.
A decision made in Monaco, imposed on Manchester
The geography of this saga is its own indictment. Ratcliffe, a Monaco resident, will decide the future of a Manchester institution from a tax haven, joined by executives whose accountability extends only to shareholders and to the Glazer family's commercial imperatives. This is football governance as extractive capitalism: decision-making power hoarded in offshore boardrooms, far from the supporters, workers and communities who actually sustain the club.
Other names circulated before Pochettino emerged as the frontrunner. Metro reported that Aston Villa's Unai Emery is admired within the club, while Eddie Howe, formerly of Newcastle, and ex-Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann were linked a fortnight ago when United seriously considered replacing Carrick. That the club seriously weighed sacking its coach mid-season, relented after the Roma win, then lurched back toward dismissal after one draw, tells its own story about institutional instability at the top of the English game.
Sacking culture and the human cost of football's churn
There is a structural critique to make of the manager-sacking cycle itself. Carrick, a former United player who stepped up after previous regimes collapsed, has been left in what reporters describe as limbo: attending training while executives assemble his replacement abroad. The treatment is not unusual, and that is precisely the problem. Football's labour relations normalise a form of precarity for coaches, and even more brutally for the academy players, catering staff and ground workers whose livelihoods swing on decisions like this one.
Supporters' groups have long argued for a supporter-shareholder model that would give fans meaningful influence over appointments, ticketing and club direction. The events of this week, with a head coach publicly dangling while a Monaco summit determines his future, are the latest argument for that model. When United's directors eventually speak about stability and long-term planning, remember that they spent the international break negotiating a £7.4million buyout for a coach under contract elsewhere.
According to The Mirror, United identified Pochettino quickly and moved to work out the details with little delay. The Manchester Evening News reports that contact has already been made with the 54-year-old's camp, with United treating him as their top target should Carrick be dismissed.
What happens next
United's decision-makers are expected to conclude their Monaco talks in the coming days. If they ratify Pochettino's appointment and pay the exit clause, the Argentine would arrive mid-season, with the club in the relegation zone and a trip to Liverpool looming on 22 November. Carrick, for now, remains in post, in limbo, waiting for a phone call from the Riviera.
FAQ
Who will replace Michael Carrick at Manchester United?
Mauricio Pochettino, the current United States men's national team head coach, is the preferred candidate. United are finalising a deal, though it depends on Carrick being formally dismissed first.
How much would Pochettino cost Manchester United?
His exit clause with US Soccer is £7.4million, payable in full, according to Metro. Personal terms with Pochettino himself are not expected to be an obstacle.
Why is Michael Carrick under pressure?
United are in the relegation zone after defeats to Como, Bournemouth and Chelsea, followed by a 4-4 draw with Aston Villa on 9 November, despite a 3-2 Champions League comeback win against Roma.