Mauricio Pochettino to Manchester United: How United's pursuit of former Tottenham and Chelsea manager unfolded

Manchester United's bosses met Mauricio Pochettino two years ago, Sky Sports News can reveal, shortly after he was sacked by Chelsea, and considered him as a possible replacement for Erik ten Hag.

However, the decision was taken in 2024 that the timing wasn't right for either side.

United are close to completing a deal for the Argentine to take over from Michael Carrick in time for the Premier League game against Liverpool at Anfield a week on Sunday.

Pochettino is a coach who has long been admired at Old Trafford. Before the INEOS takeover, he was considered for the role by the previous regime, who ultimately decided to go with Ten Hag instead.

The meeting in the summer of 2024 took place shortly after Omar Berrada became United's chief executive. Ten Hag was sacked in the October. Pochettino was out of work having left Chelsea in May.

It's thought that, while Pochettino was seen as a brilliant man-manager and a sound tactician, United's bosses felt he had been emotionally bruised by the latter stages of his time at Stamford Bridge and with some complex relationships and a rebuilding job to be done within the Manchester United squad, the timing didn't feel right.

However, once United were told a few weeks ago about Pochettino's £7.4m buy-out clause in his US contract, and after they had been given positive signals from the Pochettino camp about his desire to take charge at Old Trafford, Berrada and Jason Wilcox, the director of football, decided the timing was right.

Their first direct contact with Pochettino, Sky Sports News understands, was on Tuesday night, around the same time that there was an official approach to his employers, the United States Soccer Federation (USSF).

Sky Sports News has also been told the United hierarchy at this stage went fully behind their pursuit of Pochettino, once it became clear last week that Unai Emery could not be prised out of Aston Villa.

United hierarchy huge admirers of Emery

Both coaches, we have been told, fit United's demand for a boss that can cope with the size of the club, and protect the players from the outside 'noise'. The club's bosses were determined that was the biggest problem for the first head coach employed in the INEOS era, Ruben Amorim.

Berrada and Wilcox have been huge admirers of Emery for some time, and he was very high on their list of possible candidates if and when they decided to sack Carrick.

It was an avenue United were keen to progress, if they could see a way of making it work. However, after detailed discussions with intermediaries, it soon became clear that Emery had a watertight contract at Villa Park with no buy-out clause, which made it impossible for United to progress. There were never any direct discussions with Emery or Villa, and Villa's bosses had made it very clear they are not prepared to allow him to leave.

Sources close to the club have stressed there is no suggestion Pochettino is second choice, and rather - on the recommendation of Berrada and Wilcox - co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is satisfied that he is the best man for the job. There were no direct discussions with Julian Nagelsmann, Eddie Howe or Antonio Conte.

United bosses hurt by criticism of their treatment of Carrick

It's understood that United's bosses are hurt by suggestions that they have treated Carrick badly, allowing him to continue to take training while they were progressing a deal for Pochettino in the background.

They are adamant that nobody within the club leaked information about the talks with the Argentinian coach and their priority throughout has been to treat Carrick with the respect due to a true legend of the club.

Equally, until they had full agreement with Pochettino, they were reluctant to relieve Carrick of his duties, for fear of being left in limbo with no head coach in post.

The board were adamant that Carrick had to be told face-to-face, and so once they had returned from their review with Ratcliffe in Monaco on Wednesday night, they called a meeting with Carrick for 8.30am Thursday to deliver the news. We are told Carrick was upset by the decision, but understood the reasons.

Back in January when he was first given the interim role, United's bosses didn't have a definite plan to continue with Carrick in a substantive role, beyond the end of the season. But they were impressed by his integrity and his innate understanding of the club, his vital work with the academy, the incredibly positive impact he and his staff had on the squad and also by the results, which secured a third-placed Premier League finish and a Champions League spot.

That exceeded the board's expectations, and there was a real desire at that stage for him to succeed going forward.

Nevertheless, before giving Carrick a two-year contract, Wilcox and Berrada carried out a full round of due diligence and spoke to a number of other possible candidates in the new year. But because of the success Carrick had achieved, because of the positivity within the squad, and because of the huge groundswell of support from the United fans, the hierarchy felt they had no choice but to continue with him in the head coach role.

He was given a two-year, and not a longer, contract with minimal costs to either party should there be a termination.

Results and mood have been very different this season, and the feeling was Carrick's position became increasingly untenable.

After the heavy defeats to Bournemouth and Como last month, United's football bosses decided there needed to be a full review at the start of the international break. Despite the comeback win against Roma and the comeback draw against Villa, the feeling was that performances and the structure within the team had become chaotic, and so the decision was taken to propose a change to Ratcliffe.

The overriding feeling was that a "bubble of negativity" had descended on the squad, as evidenced by the on-pitch performances, and the off-pitch public criticisms from Lisandro Martinez and captain Bruno Fernandes.

While Carrick had overseen results that exceeded expectations last season, the feeling was that the team was grossly underachieving now, with one win in 11 matches and a descent into the relegation places. That was deemed unacceptable, for a squad which the board felt was worthy of being top-six in the Premier League.

There seems to be some sympathy for Carrick concerning the injuries which have depleted his squad this season, and it is likely that is something United will address in January, as they look to back Pochettino in the early stages of his reign.

Analysis: Would Pochettino be the perfect fit or just another manager to fall

Sky Sports' Laura Hunter:

Originally endorsed by Sir Alex Ferguson - a fact not inconsequential despite the Scot's retirement some 13 years ago - Pochettino holds clout among football's elite. At nearly every turn of the post-Ferguson era, United have failed to appoint a leader of stature and appropriate experience, perhaps with Mourinho the only exception.

Pochettino is a personality. On top of his attractive brand of football and a commitment to player pathways, he has proved he can handle himself under pressure, not least in his most recent role as US national head coach, at a home World Cup, where his team's campaign was overshadowed, in his own words, by "politics and manipulation".