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Mauricio Pochettino's suggestion that his current U.S. men's national team contract is "different" and no longer ironclad has taken on added significance amid growing speculation connecting him to the troubled managerial vacancy at Manchester United.
While Michael Carrick's future remains deeply uncertain, United are reportedly "evaluating" their options in the search for a new man to take on this thankless role. Pochettino has emerged as an unexpected frontrunner for the job according to several bookmakers.
It comes as little surprise that the former Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea boss is held in high regard at Old Trafford. Pochettino guided Spurs to their finest sustained run of domestic success in the Premier League era and has brought a clear tactical identity and renewed team spirit to the USMNT.
United had even explored appointing Pochettino previously, dispatching legendary boss Sir Alex Ferguson to share a meal with the then-Tottenham manager. "It was a meeting in London between colleagues, between a genius and an apprentice," Pochettino would later recall.
Pochettino rebuffed the Red Devils on that occasion, and many would have expected a similarly cool response to United's interest at this stage, just months after he signed a fresh four-year deal with the USMNT. However, the manager himself has hinted at a more flexible position when addressing those contract terms.
What Would It Take to Break Pochettino's USMNT Contract?
Everything we need is right here with us.
The postmatch speech from Mauricio Pochettino. ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/NBr9d6UrFP
Tottenham made confirmed contact with Pochettino in the lead-up to the World Cup. The 2019 Champions League finalist never had any intention of departing the USMNT before a home tournament and, as he quipped: "They called everyone, they called all the coaches!"
Those discussions were presumably dropped once it became apparent just how difficult it would be to release Pochettino from his previous USMNT contract. Reports suggested it would have required "one of the largest financial compensation fees in football history" to extract the Argentine. That figure was estimated at around $30 million.
Pochettino is now tied to an even lengthier deal, but under revised terms.
"Now it's a four-year contract, it's different," Pochettino explained. "We can next season lose the Copa América, or the Gold Cup, and they're not happy with us, they can sack us. Or we can say, 'O.K., it's not the way that we think.'"
"Four years is different. Maybe now if someone calls in the future, it's a different type [of situation]. We are excited, we are thinking to spend four years, to the next World Cup. But now it's a long period."
The door remains ajar, and Pochettino has shown a willingness to step through it.
Would Pochettino Want to Leave the USMNT for Man Utd?
Pochettino has made it crystal clear that he has unfinished business in the Premier League.
"I have the ambition [to return]," the 54-year-old told Sky Sports News as recently as September. "My dream now is to be in the USA for four years, but after that, why not? We are still young, and I think coming back is always my goal; to win the Premier League, to be in the Premier League and to build a project with the possibility of winning."
"I love the football here," he added. "I think to have the chance again is one of my wishes and I hope that happens."
Pochettino steered Spurs into the top four in four straight seasons and had the 1961 top-flight champions involved in two genuine title challenges for the first time in generations. An early and disputed penalty proved costly in their European final loss to Liverpool. "I've always said I came so close to winning the Premier League and Champions League, and want to try again," Pochettino has said. "I'd like to be part of a project with the ambition of winning both." That ambition could prove to be the deciding factor.