Pochettino's reported $10M USMNT exit clause is less than two years of his salary

Mauricio Pochettino's way out of the USMNT reportedly costs about $10 million. By the numbers Front Office Sports reported Tuesday, that is less than two years of what U.S. Soccer pays him, and it is the figure Manchester United would have to weigh as they decide whether to move on from Michael Carrick.

The Guardian reported Tuesday that Pochettino is interested in the Old Trafford job and that multiple sources described the interest as mutual. The Athletic first reported the buyout details Monday night. talkSPORT, ESPN, The Independent and the BBC have all reported versions of the same link, with the BBC saying Pochettino is open to joining United.

None of it is official. United have not fired Carrick, and U.S. Soccer and Pochettino's representative did not respond to Front Office Sports' questions about the clause.

Front Office Sports put Pochettino's U.S. salary at $6 million a year, on a contract largely funded by hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin for the second straight deal. At that rate, a roughly $10 million release clause is about 20 months of salary for a coach who signed through the 2030 World Cup only in August.

The bill does not stop at the head coach. According to the Guardian, the number grows if United want to keep his staff, starting with assistant Jesús Pérez, who has worked alongside Pochettino for 16 years at Espanyol, Southampton, Tottenham, PSG and Chelsea. Goalkeeper coach Toni Jiménez and Miki D'Agostino are also part of that group, and it is hard to picture them as a seperate decision.

For U.S. Soccer, the clause is the protection it built in when it brought him back. A departure now would leave the federation with millions in compensation and a new coach with most of a four-year cycle to work with.

Pochettino is in camp right now. The USMNT open the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals against Haiti on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 4:30 p.m. ET at Nu Stadium in Miami, a Haiti home game moved there because of the security situation in Haiti. The second leg is Tuesday, Nov. 17, at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati. Pochettino is scheduled to speak to reporters Friday afternoon, which makes that press conference the first chance to hear him address the reports directly.

United's side of the timeline moves just as fast. The BBC reported that club leaders, including minority owner Jim Ratcliffe, are set to discuss Carrick's future at a meeting in Monaco on Wednesday. The Premier League is on its international break until Nov. 21.

Carrick took over in January after Ruben Amorim was fired and steered United to third place last season. Ten games into this one, they are 18th with one win, and Front Office Sports noted that every other Premier League club has at least two. The Guardian called it the club's worst start to a season in four decades.

Pochettino has never hidden what he wants next. "My dream now is to be in the USA for four years, but after that, why not?" he told Sky Sports News in September. "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."

After his extension, he also said: "Every time we sign a contract, it's to go to the last day of the contract." He added a line that reads differently this week: "In life, nothing is sure. Less in football."

Before hiring Pochettino in 2024, the federation spoke with other high-profile candidates, most notably Jürgen Klopp, according to the Guardian. Closer to home, the same report named U-23 head coach Steve Cherundolo and Nashville SC coach BJ Callaghan, a former USMNT interim coach who led Nashville to a league-record points total this season, as possible options.

So the week now has two deadlines that may collide. If United act after Wednesday's meeting, the USMNT could reach Saturday in Miami with a coach whose exit costs less than two years of his pay. If they don't, Pochettino walks into Friday's press conference with a question he has answered before, and this time it comes with a price tag.