Mauricio Pochettino to break silence on future as Manchester United given deadline to trigger £7m option
Mauricio Pochettino is expected to address the media this week, though he is likely to be quizzed about links to Manchester United rather than the USMNT’s upcoming fixture.
Pochettino, who signed a contract extension with the national team back in August - taking him through to the 2030 World Cup, is busy preparing for this weekend’s Concacaf Nations League quarter-final against Haiti.
Following United’s 4-4 draw with Aston Villa, Pochettino - out of nowhere - emerged as the new leading contender to replace Michael Carrick in the Old Trafford hotseat.
The former Tottenham and Chelsea boss is now the favourite among bookmakers for the job amid reports Man Utd chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox will recommend a managerial change during a scheduled meeting with the Glazer family and minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
While the possibility of Carrick staying on has not yet been ruled out, a final decision may not come until Thursday - around 24 hours before Pochettino’s pre-Haiti press conference.
Unless more clarity is provided before Pochettino sits down in front of the media to fulfil his usual pre-matchday duties for the USMNT, he will almost certainly be asked about the Man Utd job, thus forcing him to break his silence on the matter.
“Every time we sign a contract, it’s to go to the last day of the contract,” Pochettino said in August. “If we sign a four-year contract, we need to think to arrive there. And we signed the contract because we really believe that we are going to be four years there. Because if not, it’s bad.
“If we don’t believe in that process, if we don’t believe in that journey, why (would) we sign four years? Only to be sure that we are going to receive a salary on the end of the month? That is not nice. It’s not the way that we think.
“We really signed that contract because we really believe that we can arrive to the end.”