Mauricio Pochettino is set to sign a two-and-a-half year contract to become the new Manchester United manager after they agreed to pay his £7.4m release clause, according to the Athletic.

Man United confirmed the departure of Michael Carrick on Thursday morning, even though it has been suggested since Monday that he was going to be sacked by the club.

The 45-year-old had been given a surprise stay of execution following successive heavy defeats against Como and Bournemouth last month, in the Champions League and Premier League respectively, but while his team did beat AS Roma in the Champions League, they only took one point from six available in the top flight.

With the Red Devils situated in the relegation zone, Jason Wilcox and Omar Berrada decided enough was enough, and Sir Jim Ratcliffe agreed as the former Middlesbrough boss was given his marching orders on Thursday.

United had already been working on bringing in Pochettino as his successor, with GIVEMESPORT sources revealing on Wednesday night that the club had reached an agreement in principle on personal terms with the 54-year-old.

An announcement could come as soon as Friday, although the Argentine is still expected to take charge of both of the United States' matches against Haiti on Saturday and the early hours of Wednesday morning, before he travels to England to prepare for his bow against Liverpool at Anfield.

Talk has already begun on which United players will and won't be a good fit in a Pochettino team, with the Telegraph reporting on Thursday who is likely to be in favour having spoken to someone close to the South American coach.

The source said: "He’ll like Rashford, Bruno, Mainoo, Baleba, Shaw, Amad and Dorgu.

They are all players who have qualities he usually likes and fit the way he likes his teams to play. Some of the others might have to prove themselves to him.

Of course, there are some notable absentees from that list, including Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha, Youri Tielemans and Shea Lacey.

Lacey Has Some Work to do Under Pochettino

Pochettino is known for his work with young English players like Luke Shaw and Dele Alli in the past, but if Shea Lacey was even thinking that he could be set for regular first-team football at Old Trafford under the Argentine, he may have just been given a reality check.

Of course, the source speaking may have just forgotten about the teenager, but if it's true what he's saying about Marcus Rashord and Amad Diallo, then Lacey is still facing a big challenge.

Pochettino tends to favour either a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 system, and both of those would see Lacey line up on the right-hand side, like he has when he has featured regularly from the bench for the Red Devils in recent weeks.

However, that is also the favoured position of Amad, and if the source is right that he fits well into a Pochettino system, then Lacey has a fight on his hands to get regular minutes.

The Ivory Coast international needs to improve his form too, given it has been 11 months since he last netted for the club against Bournemouth in December of last year.

The 24-year-old has also only provided two assists in that time, on the final day against Brighton last season, and in the 4-1 defeat to Como last month.

Of course, we haven't even mentioned Bryan Mbeumo, who has featured regularly from the right both last season and when Amad was unavailable through injury.

If those two players are Pochettino's first choices on the right, then Lacey will find himself down the pecking order in the coming weeks.

The 19-year-old has already shown his quality when he has been on the pitch though, and while he may not be an immediate starter under the former Tottenham boss, he can prove his worth on the training pitch at Carrington.