USA release training footage as Mauricio Pochettino sends message amid Manchester United links

Detailed summary

Business as usual for Mauricio Pochettino amid links with Manchester United

Mauricio Pochettino took USMNT training on Wednesday as usual, despite reports of an agreement being in place with Manchester United.

The former Tottenham and Chelsea head coach is widely expected to make a surprise return to English football, just over two years after his last stint in the Premier League.

Over the weekend, and following Man United’s 4-4 draw at home to Aston Villa, Pochettino emerged as the new favourite to replace Michael Carrick should the current United head coach be sacked.

And there have been been big developments since. Most notably a report from the Athletic who state United spent Tuesday discussing personal terms with Pochettino’s representatives, with no major obstacles expected and that a final agreement is expected.

However, it should be noted that United have yet to approach US Soccer, who would be entitled to around $10m (£7.4m) in compensation through an exit clause in the Argentine’s contract as manager of the national team.

In the meantime, it was business as usual for Pochettino on Wednesday as he oversaw a training session in preparation for USA’s CONCACAF Nations League quarter-final tie first leg against Haiti.

This comes after USA cancelled their media access day in observance of Veterans Day, thus removing the possibility of the squad being asked to comment on the news of Pochettino’s potential exit.

On X, formerly, Twitter, the official USMNT account has uploaded footage of the aforementioned training session with Pochettino sending a message to his players before putting them through their paces.

Pochettino is due to address reporters on Friday in the pre-match press conference, where he will be expected to field questions about his future - especially if there has been no further movement with Man United.

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