United board set to meet at Old Trafford on Wednesday afternoon with decision expected to be made on manager’s job
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| Mauricio Pochettino is currently the manager of the US men's national team but is open to the Manchester United job. Photograph: John Dorton/USSF/Getty Images |
Manchester United have a framework agreement with Mauricio Pochettino for him to become their head coach if Michael Carrick is sacked. Carrick is expected to be fired in line with the recommendation from director of football Jason Wilcox and chief executive Omar Berrada to Jim Ratcliffe.
Pochettino is the US men’s head coach and in August signed a contract to 2030 but he wants the United job after managing in the Premier League with Southampton, Tottenham and Chelsea.
Wilcox and Berrada are meeting Ratcliffe in Monaco, where the minority owner will be informed that Carrick should lose his job. Ratcliffe controls United’s sporting policy.
There is a growing sense among United players that Carrick will be sacked, with their expectation being that Pochettino will replace him.
A United board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday at which one or more of the six Glazer siblings, who are the majority owners, will be represented. There is an expectation within the executive and in Carrick’s camp that the sacking will be ratified there and that an announcement will follow.
Pochettino’s contract contains a release clause of about $10 million (€8.9 million), although the compensation United would have to pay will be higher if the Argentinian brings his own staff, including his long-time assistant and confidant Jesús Pérez, who has worked with Pochettino for 16 years.
Pochettino is due to take charge of the US in Concacaf Nations League matches against Haiti on Saturday and Wednesday in Miami and Cincinnati respectively, their first competitive fixtures of the 2030 World Cup qualifying cycle.
Carrick has overseen a disastrous start to their season which has United in 18th and in the relegation zone. The 45-year-old has won only one game in the league, against Ipswich in August, and three in all competitions. United were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Brighton in September.
– Guardian
