Mauricio Pochettino: Career, salary, tactics, clubs and trophies ahead of Man United appointment

Manchester United are closing in on Mauricio Pochettino after sacking Michael Carrick on Thursday morning, having reportedly reached a verbal agreement in principle with the Argentine and prepared to pay to secure his release from the United States Soccer Federation.

Pochettino is currently head coach of the United States men's national team, a role he took up in September 2024 before signing a contract extension that will keep him in the position through the 2030 World Cup.

If confirmed, the move would see United become the seventh senior managerial job of the Argentine’s career, following spells at Espanyol, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and the United States.

With that in mind, Sports Mole takes a look at Pochettino's managerial career, salary, tactics, trophies and top scorers, as well as why he left Tottenham and what United could expect.

Mauricio Pochettino managerial career prior to Man United appointment

Pochettino began his managerial career at Espanyol in January 2009, leaving by mutual consent in November 2012 before joining Southampton in January 2013 and moving to Tottenham on a five-year contract in May 2014.

The 54-year-old replaced Thomas Tuchel at PSG in January 2021 but left in July 2022, before taking charge of Chelsea in 2023 and departing by mutual consent in May 2024 following reported tensions over the club's direction and squad-building strategy.

Pochettino succeeded Gregg Berhalter as USMNT head coach after the 2024 Copa America, with the opportunity to lead the team at the 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, forming a major part of the appeal.

Why did Mauricio Pochettino leave Tottenham?

Tottenham sacked Pochettino on 19 November 2019 with Spurs 14th in the Premier League after just three wins from their opening 12 games, barely six months after he had led them to the Champions League final.

Then-chairman Daniel Levy said the board was extremely reluctant but believed the decision was in the club’s best interests, following a League Cup defeat to Colchester United and a 7-2 home thrashing by Bayern Munich.

The problems dated back to the summer of 2018, when Spurs became the first Premier League side not to sign a player during a transfer window, and Pochettino had warned of a painful rebuild after the Madrid final.

The Argentine manager also admitted in Singapore that he would probably have left had Spurs won the Champions League.

Mauricio Pochettino tactics

Heavily influenced by Marcelo Bielsa, Pochettino favours a high-pressing, attacking style built around a preferred 4-2-3-1 formation, with his teams encouraged to build from the back and create chances through movement in the final third.

At Tottenham, that developed into a flexible system with advanced full-backs providing width, while Spurs recorded the lowest number of passes allowed per defensive action in the Premier League in both 2015-16 and 2016-17.

Pochettino has also shown tactical flexibility, using a 4-1-4-1 to beat Manchester City in October 2016 and a more cautious mid-block during Tottenham's run to the 2018-19 Champions League final.

With the USMNT, he used a 4-2-3-1 in their 4-1 win over Paraguay at the 2026 World Cup, while also earning a reputation for developing young players such as Dele Alli and Eric Dier and giving academy graduates including Harry Winks and Josh Onomah opportunities in the first team.

Mauricio Pochettino past clubs and trophies ahead of Man United appointment

Southampton finished eighth in 2013-14, their highest league finish since 2002-03, while Tottenham won no trophies under Pochettino, losing the 2015 League Cup final and 2019 Champions League showpiece but finishing second in 2016-17.

At Paris Saint-Germain, he won all three trophies of his managerial career, lifting the Trophee des Champions and Coupe de France in 2021 before claiming the Ligue 1 title in 2021-22.

Chelsea finished sixth in 2023-24 and lost the League Cup final to Liverpool after extra time, meaning Pochettino’s only season at Stamford Bridge ended without silverware.

With the USMNT, he lost the 2025 Gold Cup final 2-1 to Mexico before topping Group D at the 2026 World Cup, only to suffer a 4-1 defeat to Belgium in the last 16.

Top scorers under Mauricio Pochettino

Southampton's Rickie Lambert and Jay Rodriguez each finished as the club's leading league scorer with 15 goals in 2012-13 and 2013-14 respectively, although Lambert's tally covered the full 2012-13 campaign, which began under Nigel Adkins, while Harry Kane scored 169 goals under Pochettino at Tottenham, representing 67.6% of the 250-goal club tally.

Kane won the Premier League Golden Boot in 2015-16 and 2016-17 and became the first Tottenham player to score at least 20 goals in five successive seasons during Pochettino's reign.

Kylian Mbappe top-scored for PSG in 2021-22 with 28 league goals, while Cole Palmer netted 22 times in the Premier League for Chelsea in 2023-24 to finish as the club's leading scorer.

Folarin Balogun led the USMNT scoring charts at the 2026 World Cup with three goals, including two against Paraguay, despite having his one-match suspension following a red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina suspended by FIFA.

Mauricio Pochettino salary

Pochettino reportedly earns around $6m (£4.5m) a year as USMNT head coach, making him the highest-paid coach in US Soccer history, and received $5.02m (£3.8m) during his first seven months in the role, including a $2.5m (£1.8m) bonus.

The Argentine’s salary at United is unconfirmed, but he could rank among the Premier League's best-paid managers, with a package potentially comparable to those of Xabi Alonso, Oliver Glasner and Enzo Maresca, whose reported annual salaries are between £10m and £11.5m.

United would reportedly need to trigger a release clause of around $10m, or approximately £7.4m, in his US Soccer contract, with further compensation required if the club also wants to bring members of his coaching staff to Old Trafford.

At Tottenham, Pochettino reportedly earned up to £8.5m a year and was linked with a severance payment estimated at around $16m following his dismissal in 2019. At PSG, he reportedly earned approximately €1.1m gross per month before agreeing a termination settlement worth around €10m for himself and his coaching staff combined in 2022.

Mauricio Pochettino at Man United

Pochettino has long been admired by Manchester United, with the club previously considering him as a managerial candidate in 2016 and again in 2018, while Chelsea and Real Madrid were also linked with the Argentine at different points during his Tottenham reign. Spurs' final match at the old White Hart Lane in 2017 was a 2-1 win over United.

When United sacked Jose Mourinho in December 2018, Pochettino was among the leading candidates to replace him permanently, only for the job to initially go to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who started out as caretaker.

Fast forward to November 2026, and after a 4-4 draw with Aston Villa on Sunday, ESPN reported Pochettino as United's favoured candidate, with Eddie Howe, Kieran McKenna and Julian Nagelsmann also among the names being considered as the hierarchy met Sir Jim Ratcliffe in Monaco.