The former Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain boss will become the highest-paid coach in the history of the United States men’s national team.
The United States take on New Zealand on Tuesday in their second fixture of the international break. The team will be eager to bounce back from Saturday’s loss to Canada and yet, whatever the score at TQL Stadium, the real story came ahead of kick-off.
After much speculation, US Soccer have finally announced that Mauricio Pochettino will take over as head coach. He replaces Gregg Berhalter, who saw the second of his two stints with USMNT end in a bleak showing at the summer’s Copa America.
Pochettino is considered the ideal candidate for the job; bringing the lustre of a career at the elite level in Europe, while maintaining a reputation as a hard-working improver of talented players. For US Soccer, it’s the perfect combination. And one that doesn’t come cheap.
What is Mauricio Pochettino’s USMNT salary?
Pochettino’s first major success as a coach came with Tottenham Hotspur, whom he transformed into one of the Premier League’s top sides and led to the final of the Champions League. After leaving Spurs he went on to coach Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, two of the richest clubs in world soccer.
Accordingly, his recent contracts were extremely well-paid.
ESPN report that Pochettino will receive a salary of $6 million per year while in charge of USMNT, comfortably the highest-paid coach in the history of the national team. For comparison, Berhalter earned $2.3 million in 2022, which included a $900,000 bonus for reaching the second round of the World Cup.
A proportion of that salary may be funded by former team Chelsea, who dismissed Pochettino earlier this summer with one year remaining on his deal. US Soccer’s announcement also indicated that other partners had been enlisted to help fund the deal, including a “philanthropic leadership gift” from Kenneth C. Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel and founder of Griffin Catalyst.