Pochettino among contenders as Manchester United weigh Carrick's future

Manchester United directors are due to meet in Monaco on Wednesday to discuss Michael Carrick's future, with the club sitting 18th in the Premier League after one win from their opening ten matches, according to Yahoo Sports.

That return represents United's worst start to a top-flight season since 1986-87, and leaves them just a single point above bottom-placed Crystal Palace ten months into Carrick's spell as head coach.

Should Carrick depart, it would make him the eighth permanent manager United have appointed since Sir Alex Ferguson retired 13 years ago — as many changes in that period as the club made in the 68 years before it, stretching back to Sir Matt Busby's arrival in 1945.

Among those being discussed as potential successors is Mauricio Pochettino, a manager whose connection to Old Trafford stretches back further than any of his rivals for the post. Sky Sports Football describes a relationship between the Argentine and United that has existed for close to a decade without the two ever actually converging.

Pochettino's Premier League record reads 150 wins from 294 matches, a win percentage of 51 and a points-per-game ratio of 1.77, built largely during his time at Tottenham, where he produced a points-per-game ratio of 1.89 — the best of any Spurs manager to take charge of 25 or more league fixtures, per Yahoo Sports.

He never delivered a trophy in north London, losing both a Champions League final and a League Cup final while finishing second and third in the table. Silverware followed at Paris St-Germain, where he won Ligue 1 and the French Cup, though a subsequent spell at Chelsea ended with defeat by Liverpool in the 2024 League Cup final.

Pochettino is currently contracted to the USA national team through the 2030 World Cup, having led the hosts to the last 16 of this year's tournament with a young squad that includes 17-year-old Cavan Sullivan, who is set to join Manchester City. He has nevertheless signalled he still has unfinished business in the Premier League, Yahoo Sports reports.

A buyout clause in his USA contract is reported to be worth $10million (£7.44m), and is understood to include provisions allowing him to leave for certain high-profile roles.

Julian Nagelsmann is also under consideration. The 39-year-old won the Bundesliga in his first season at Bayern Munich and posted an 83.3 per cent win rate in the Champions League, second only to Hansi Flick's 88.9 per cent among Bayern managers, but fell out with key players and left before completing a second campaign. He later took charge of Germany, losing to Spain in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals before stepping down this summer following a last-32 World Cup exit against Paraguay. United's director of recruitment, Christopher Vivell, worked alongside Nagelsmann at RB Leipzig.

Eddie Howe is a further name in the frame, having left Newcastle this summer after a 12th-placed finish. He guided Bournemouth into the top flight for the first time and delivered Newcastle's first major domestic trophy since 1955 with League Cup final victory over Liverpool, alongside two top-five finishes that returned the club to the Champions League after two decades. Yahoo Sports notes Newcastle would be owed only a relatively modest compensation fee were Howe to take the United job.

Unai Emery has also been linked with the vacancy, according to Yahoo Sports, though the report did not detail the basis of that interest.

Wednesday's meeting is expected to determine whether Carrick remains in charge, with United's hierarchy weighing both the immediate table position and the wider pattern of instability that has defined the post-Ferguson era.