Manchester United open talks with Pochettino as Carrick decision looms

Manchester United have opened talks with United States head coach Mauricio Pochettino about replacing Michael Carrick, BBC Sport reported on Wednesday 11 November. Carrick's future was due to be settled the same day at a meeting of the club's hierarchy in Monaco.

That meeting brought together chief executive Omar Berrada, director of football Jason Wilcox and co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe. According to BBC Sport, Berrada and Wilcox were expected to recommend that Carrick leave his position.

Pochettino, for his part, appears willing. "Mauricio Pochettino is ready to accept an offer from Manchester United to become their next head coach," BBC Sport reported, adding that he wanted the job once Carrick's situation was clarified.

How far along is the deal?

The major outlets agree on the direction of travel but not on how far it has gone.

Sky Sports went furthest on the detail. "United have reached a verbal agreement in principle with Mauricio Pochettino to take over as head coach," it reported on Wednesday 11 November, with the arrangement dependent on Carrick being dismissed. Reuters called Pochettino the favourite for the job and said he had reportedly agreed to move to Old Trafford and was close to signing a contract.

The Associated Press was more cautious. A person with knowledge of the situation told the agency that preparations to appoint Pochettino had been carried out as a matter of "due diligence", and that no final decision had been made on Carrick's future.

Carrick was still doing the job while all this unfolded. He took training on Wednesday 11 November and officially remained United's manager at the time of Sky Sports' report. Sky expected that to change quickly, reporting that he was likely to be relieved of his duties before the end of the week, once Berrada and Wilcox had returned from Monaco.

A historic low at Old Trafford

The numbers explain why the club has reached this point. ESPN reported on Tuesday 10 November that United had won once in 10 Premier League matches and sat one point above the bottom of the table, the club's worst-ever start in the competition.

It is a steep fall for Carrick. He arrived as interim manager in January, guided United to Champions League qualification and was rewarded with a two-year contract in the summer, according to ESPN.

He had already survived one moment of danger. ESPN reported that Carrick received a reprieve the previous month but had won only one of four matches since. For a club that qualified for the Champions League a few months earlier, sitting a point off the foot of the table after 10 games left the hierarchy little room for patience.

The cost of getting Pochettino

Pochettino would not come free. He extended his United States contract through 2030 in August after taking the team to the World Cup round of 16, ESPN reported, and the Associated Press said that deal runs through the 2030 World Cup.

There is a way out, though the reported price varies slightly. Sky Sports put the release clause at £7m, while an ESPN source gave the figure as $10 million (£7.4 million).

Timing is the other complication. Sky Sports reported that Pochettino could remain in charge of the United States for their two matches against Haiti, on Saturday 14 November and Wednesday 18 November, unless an agreement was reached to release him earlier.

The first of those, Haiti v USA in the CONCACAF Nations League, kicks off at 21:30 UTC on Saturday 14 November. If Pochettino is on the touchline for both games, he would have only a few days before United's next fixture.

That fixture is a hard one. United go to Anfield to face Liverpool on Sunday 22 November, according to ESPN, and the outcome of the Monaco meeting will decide who leads them there.