Inside Manchester United's move to prise Mauricio Pochettino away from the US national team

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — From the moment Manchester United executives were made aware of Mauricio Pochettino’s availability, he stood alone — the only candidate as the troubled club set about hiring a new coach.

With results tanking and the 20-time English champion languishing in the Premier League relegation zone, something had to be done.

Who could revive the fortunes of the once dominant force after more than a decade of decline?

In the end it came down to a choice of one. Unfortunately for the U.S. men's national team, it was Pochettino.

On Friday, the Argentine was confirmed as United’s eighth manager or head coach since club great Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. He has signed a two and a half-year contract.

United's hierarchy had initially assumed Pochettino, like Aston Villa's Unai Emery, was out of reach.

Emery also has big admirers at United after transforming Villa from a relegation-threatened team to a serial Champions League challenger, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to protect relationships. But the Spaniard, under contract and without a release clause, was simply not an option.

The same was thought of Pochettino after he signed a four-year deal in August tying him to the U.S. team through the 2030 World Cup.

United knew him well. He had been a leading candidate for the job in 2022 when Erik ten Hag was ultimately hired. And he left a lasting impression as recently as the summer of 2024 when, under a new sporting leadership, United considered firing Ten Hag and spoke to a range of contenders, Pochettino included.

It was determined then — on both sides — that the timing wasn't right so soon after his brief spell in charge of Chelsea, the person said.

Now, with Pochettino re-energized by his experiences with the U.S., including a run to the round of 16 at this year’s World Cup, the timing is right.

United set about securing the former Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea coach once it was made aware of a break clause in his recently signed contract, with due diligence carried out before incumbent Michael Carrick was fired on Thursday.

Confident that Pochettino wanted to take on what has increasingly looked like an impossible job, it was a matter of informing the U.S. soccer federation of its intention to move for a coach, who did so much galvanize the nation during the World Cup. That formal approach came on Wednesday, the night before Carrick was relieved of his duties, the person said.

By that stage rumors had already been swirling around Pochettino and the odds on him to become United's eighth permanent coach or manager in 13 years had been slashed. He was the only candidate United spoke to directly, despite reported interest in Julian Nagelsmann, Eddie Howe and Antonio Conte.

The 54-year-old Argentine is “renowned for his high-intensity, attacking style of football, his dedication to building strong, cohesive teams and his outstanding record of developing individual players,” and had “consistently performed at the highest level of football across multiple leagues,” United said when announcing his appointment Friday.

There has been criticism of United's handling of the process, making Carrick wait until Thursday to learn his fate that had been long-trailed.

The delay had been due to various reasons. Firstly, no decision could be made until an internal review had been carried out. The person said Carrick had been kept informed about the process.

It wasn't until a meeting with minority owner Jim Ratcliffe in Monaco on Wednesday that chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox made the recommendation to change the coach and the decision was made. Berrada and Wilcox returned to Manchester on Wednesday night and rather than inform Carrick by phone, chose to tell him face-to-face at a meeting at the club's training ground on Thursday morning, according to the person's description of events.

It is unlikely to have come as a surprise to Carrick, even if he was less than six months into a two-year contract.

He had overseen United's worst start for 40 years. With only one win in 10 games the 20-time English champion sits 18th in the standings, in the relegation zone.

Another person with knowledge of the decision-making process said the results were simply “not acceptable for Manchester United” and a change had to be made.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to do so publicly.

Pochettino, the person said, had the right a “philosophy, personality and skill set” that was the right fit for the role. His “outstanding record of individual talent development and history of building excellent team cultures” were also reasons behind his appointment.

His first game in charge will be against Liverpool on Nov. 22. He will be the latest in a long line of candidates charged with the responsibility of bringing the good times back to a club that for so long dominated English soccer.

United has not won the Premier League title since Ferguson's final season in 2013 and has been overtaken by rivals like Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal.

Pochettino, who won the French title with PSG and turned Tottenham into a Premier League title challenger, had an underwhelming experience when last in England for one season with Chelsea in 2023-24.

Chelsea ended sixth in the standings, missing out on Champions League qualification and beaten by Liverpool in the final of the English League Cup to leave Pochettino still without a major trophy in English soccer.

Both United and Pochettino will hope that, together, they can snap that streak.

James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

See AP’s full soccer coverage here

FILE - United States head coach Mauricio Pochettino listens to a question during a press conference ahead of his FIFA World Cup match against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner, File)

U.S. Men's National Soccer Team head coach Mauricio Pochettino walks on the pitch during practice, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026, in Fayetteville, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

FILE - United States head coach Mauricio Pochettino gestures as he walks off the pitch after United States defeated Bosnia in the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between the United States and Bosnia in Santa Clara, Calif., near San Francisco, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

FILE - United States head coach Mauricio Pochettino celebrates with his players following the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between the United States and Bosnia in Santa Clara, Calif., near San Francisco, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

FILE - United States head coach Mauricio Pochettino looks on during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match against Belgium in Seattle, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Abdul El-Sayed has proposed “TrumpCare,” a golden insurance card providing universal healthcare, dangling the president's name on the ambitious Democratic plan.

James Talarico has suggested Donald Trump could become a man of history like Lyndon B. Johnson, who was seen as a master of congressional dealmaking.

And even Hakeem Jeffries, in line to become the House speaker in January, has left the door open to working with the other side of the aisle “wherever and whenever possible” to deliver for the American people.

Democrats who swept into power by riding voter backlash to Trump are now pitching ways to collaborate with the president, playing to his vanity and his love of making deals to propel their own agenda.

The offers coming from the Democrats carry both practical and political applications — a strategy to show that the party is serious about the hard work of legislating and also an acknowledgment that Trump's signature is needed for new laws.

Trump himself has said he doesn't want to spend the final two years of his presidency simply vetoing bills from the Democrats in control of Congress. It was only a few short years ago, during his first term, that Trump stunned Republicans by cutting deals with the Democratic leaders he called “Chuck and Nancy” — Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Before the next Congress begins in January, Democrats are trying to entice Trump with the prospect of timeless glory to a president fixated on making his mark on Washington.

All he has to do, they say, is work with them to deliver sweeping policies like Medicare for All.

“Donald, this is on the table. Guarantee healthcare for every American, from cradle to grave,” El-Sayed, who won the U.S. Senate race in Michigan after Trump branded him a terrorist sympathizer, wrote on social media.

He attached mock-ups of a gold-colored card, with Trump’s name and signature far more prominent than the small text reading “Medicare for All.”

Universal healthcare has long been anathema to Republicans, although Congress — and even the Republican president himself — will face pressure to deal with rising costs.

Trump’s willingness to slog through extended negotiations with Democrats is an open question, and his past promises of dealmaking have been hit and miss. He reiterated Thursday he is willing to work with Democrats.

“I’m going to be vetoing a lot of things that they’re going to send me initially that are bad for the country, and I think eventually they’re going to call in, they’re going to say, ‘Let’s make a deal,’ and we’ll be able to make deals on healthcare, on drug prices,” the president told commentator Stephen A. Smith in an interview.

Trump's choice of Stephen Miller as his new White House chief of staff may foreclose some of those opportunities, however. Jeffries described Miller as a “stone-cold racist” and said he has “zero interest” in working with him.

The pitches from some of Democrats’ most high-profile new arrivals in Washington will help shape the party's approach for the rest of Trump’s presidency.

Talarico, the Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate from Texas, described the ways that Johnson is memorialized on Capitol Hill and remembered for shaping civil rights and social services as a senator and president.

“If President Trump wants the same plaques and portraits and busts as LBJ, we can help make that a reality,” Talarico said Thursday at the What’s Next conference in Denver, where many Democrats gathered to plot their way forward.

Talarico made his pitch to Democrats as much as to Trump. After getting the fulsome repudiation of Trump they’ve been seeking for a decade, the party’s base voters may not be eager to see their newly elected leaders standing with him for a bipartisan signing ceremony at the White House Rose Garden that he paved over to create a patio resembling his Mar-a-Lago resort.

However, Talarico said Americans are counting on bold changes before the next president takes office after Trump’s second term ends.

“Some of these reforms may not pass until 2029, but the American people cannot wait two years for change,” he said. “So we must work with President Trump.”

The eagerness to work with Trump is notable from El-Sayed and Talarico, who were among the president’s most frequent targets as he hop-scotched the country for Republicans ahead of the midterms. He singled them out for especially personal attacks, questioning El-Sayed’s loyalty to the United States and labeling the Texan as “Talafreako.”

Cooper reported from Phoenix.

FILE - White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, listens as President Donald Trump speaks and announces action to help farmers and ranchers, Sept. 4, 2026, in the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance clap while recognizing veterans in the crowd during a ceremony for Veterans Day at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., discusses his agenda to reverse the policies of President Donald Trump during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed, D-Mich., and his wife Sarah Jukaku, left, walk to a gathering at the Capitol as Congress returns to work following the sweeping victory by Democrats in the midterm elections, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

James Talarico, senator-elect of Texas, speaks during a Democratic conference Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)