Manchester United are finalising a deal to appoint Mauricio Pochettino as their next head coach, with Michael Carrick expected to be sacked after a disastrous start to the season, according to reports on Wednesday.

The Athletic reports that United spent Tuesday discussing personal terms with Pochettino, who is currently head coach of the United States national team, and that no issues are anticipated. Sky Sports News also reports that United are close to agreeing a deal with the 54-year-old. No contact has yet been made with US Soccer, but United are understood to be ready to pay the release clause in Pochettino's contract, reported to be in the region of 7.4 million pounds, with further compensation required for his backroom staff.

Carrick remains in post for now, and he took training at Carrington on Wednesday morning, but his fate is expected to be decided at a meeting in Monaco on Wednesday. Chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox are meeting co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, and both are expected to recommend that Carrick be dismissed. A final decision may not come until Thursday, leaving the club and its head coach in limbo for another day.

United's worst start in 40 years

The pressure on Carrick has built through a dreadful opening to the season. United sit 18th in the Premier League after winning just one of their first ten league matches, collecting eight points, and they have not won a league game since August. Sunday's 4-4 draw with Aston Villa at Old Trafford summed up the chaos: United twice fought back from two goals behind, with Joshua Zirkzee and Patrick Dorgu scoring in stoppage time, but the result did nothing to ease the pressure. BBC Sport has described it as United's worst start to a domestic campaign in 40 years.

Carrick, a former United midfielder and club legend as a player, took charge on an interim basis and was given the job on a longer-term footing, but results have not improved. He led first-team training on Tuesday with a reduced group because of international call-ups, and he was back at Carrington early on Wednesday, photographed arriving at around 7.45am, while the club's powerbrokers flew to Monaco to discuss his future.

Why Pochettino, and what happens next

Pochettino has long been admired at Old Trafford. He has managed Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea in the Premier League, and he has been linked with the United job on several occasions in the past, including after the departures of Jose Mourinho and Erik ten Hag. He is understood to have always wanted to manage United, and multiple sources have told BBC Sport he would be interested in the role now.

He has been in charge of the United States since September 2024 and renewed his contract in August, taking it through to the end of the 2030 World Cup. That deal is thought to contain a release clause worth around 10 million dollars, with a further sum of around two million dollars expected for his coaching staff. United have not yet triggered the clause, and no announcement has been made by either the club or US Soccer, so the move is not complete.

If the deal goes through, Pochettino's first match in charge is expected to be the trip to Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday 22 November, after the international break. He is due to face the media on Friday ahead of the United States' Concacaf Nations League quarter-final against Haiti, where he is certain to be asked about the reports. For Carrick, the wait goes on. For United, the end of a miserable run of results may finally be in sight, but only if the Monaco meeting goes the way the reports suggest.